The Sun.
London, England, 1832-08-28 00:00:00

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not have been written by a soldier. That wa3 the first
remark I made.

Had you known of Scinerville's writing in e-e pipors
before this period ?—No, I have no reason to think so.
What do you mein by the remark that you thought a
man who would write one thing in a paper, would write
another ?—My ilea was, that the soldier would be tempted
to correspond with the parrs.

You mentioned pieces of poetry ?—They were a few
lines of poetry, and I thought if the handwriting of Somer-
ville was in the Ace, the compari,on might be made.
Did you, in commenting on the letter in the Di.S.,(7UI,
apply to it the epithets, seditious and treasonable, or
Other of them, and which ?—No ; I used the word
" libel," and, I thin?-, Laer wards in the school, when I
spoke to the men.

fi'm any thing von could say, yon might have us td :I"+.e
words " seditious" and " treasonable," Dr.e7th-e'r of them ?
—No ; I think I said, " libel npt ne whole regiment ;"
it had been commented "Sti 'thioughout the yard, and a
great deal of ret!...tio'n caused by the letter ; the town was
in a state c tzonfusion ; the barrack-yard gates kept con
stantly shut; we were spoken of as Unionists ; one repott
was, that I was dismissed ; that the Commander was
coming down, and that at one place they had had .nearly
pulled him out ()Chin carriage. Altogether I etas excited,
and I believe, every man the regittent was excited. Ban-
ners were flying and clru'rol heating ; the gates of the bar-
racks were ioc eu ; and what with the gates being
locked) and the other circumstances that one
Cannot be surprised at there beint• fttigy feeling about the
letter being written.

Had you ptt the Dispatch on the table when Somer-
ville Mired the room for the purpose of the interview ?
!: will not be certain whether I put it there, or whether
it remained there all night ; to the last of my knowledge
it might have been there the whole night when I locked
my room door.

What induted yma to mention to Somerviile on that oc-
casion the writing the letters and the papers, the imme-
•:diate subject of the interview with him being the offence
in the riding.scheol ascertain whether a soldier
would take s`:-L-11 a liberty with the corps ;my object is to
knon, every man's feelings and sentiments in the regiment.
Have you any statement to make an to your giving any
orders for the court-martial gave the order about a
quarter ofan hour er ti-:enty minutes after I left the room.
I was dressed ill plain clothes, and had to go 32 milts. I
wrtitt rt note or two before I went out. The carriage was
at the door at eleven o'clock, and at a quarter after I got
into it. I gave orders to the Adjutant to hive a parade
formed. It was an idle day with us. We hail a field day
the day before. There was a good deal of do fining among
the trek, and the horses had been indulged in the nv,rn-
ing-. I desired the parade should he ready by the time I
came hack. I expected to get back about the time of my
own trumpet sounding for general assembly. Whenever
the minutes of a court-martial are read, we go to the
riding-school, as being a good place, free from all obser-
vvion.

What was the purpose of the parade being assembled?
--To read the minutes of the court-martial.
Is it the custom to read the minutes of the court-martial
when a punishment takes place only ?—Upon all occasions
i❑ the riding-school, being a good place well selected for
the purpose.

His it been customary for you, before the assembly of a
regimental court-martial, to order that there shou'd be a
parade after the court.martial, for the purpose of hearing
the rninutPs read ?—Yes ; it is more often ordered after the
court-martial, on that day if po,sible, that we may get clear
of our work, and have the following day for a field-day, or
any general purposes.
Do you mean to say that it is the invariable practice to
summon the troops to hear the proceedings of a court-
martial, whether those proceedings have terminated in the
acquittal or convictio❑ of the prisoner ?--Invariably in
the G revs.

What is the usual hour of assembling regimental eQurts-
martial ?—Sometimes, on a drum-Lead court-martial, the
man is tried on the instant.

But in ordinary regimental court.-martial ?-11 to 12.
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Is it usual that'thecourts-martial should sit on the same
day on which you give t' e order for the assembling of the
court-martial ?—I have known it happen.
Is it usual ?--It depends on whether it is able to do it
on the cause day ; they do not sit after 1., and we had
been out that day for two hours.
Is it usual for a court-martial to sit on the same day of
its being ordered, or on tie following day ?—As it may be.
Did you see any of the members of the court-martial
after giving the orders for its sitting ?—I do not think I
saw one. There was a person waiting for me in the car-
riage at the door, and I was in a great hurry to dress.
Whom did you direct to warn the members of the court-
tnartia! ?—Adjutant Ricketts.

Did you give or did you' send to the court-martial any
directions, except at the time, through Adjutant Ricketts ?
—None.

Do you recollect stating to any peraon, after you saw
private Somerville,—after he confessed himself the writer
of the letter in the Dispatch,—that he was, in fact, the
writer of the letter ?—I believe I did.

To more thin one person ?—No ; I think only to one
person, whom I met on getting into the carriage—the Pay-
master. The words I used were, " I have found out the
writer of the letter in the Dispatch, and then I went off."
When were the procet dings of the court-martial brought
or sent to you for your approval?—l think, as near as
possible, they were delivered to me by the President on the
steps of the door, as I got out of the carriage, at a quar-
ter past 4, and I took them and read them, to see if they
were correct, before I put on regimentals previous to going
to parade.
Have you any statement to make to the Court of what
p issed at the time the punishment was inflicted ?—Nothing
beyond desiring the man to tike his punishment.

Were the minutes of the Court read at that time?—
Certainly; after the minutes of the Court were read, I
then addressed myself to Somerville, and said,—" You
will take your punishment." He quietly placed himself
in the situation to be punished, and received one hun-
dred !ashes.

Under what circumstances was it that h? did not receive
the whole of the punishment awarded by the sentence of
the Court-martial ?—lie got 100, and, he being a recruit,
I mid, " Take him down, he is a recruit."
Was that the reason for which you took him down, that
he was a recruit ?—Certainly ; and he had not been corn-
'shined of before this circumstance. I thought thata man
should not he so severely punished, where there was a
chance of reclaiming him, as if he had been an old
offender ;he had been well spoken of before this. I
always asked how the man was going on, seeing that from
his figure he was not well made for a dragoon. I asked
Lieut. Gillies, and he said " Pretty well."
If you thought the punishment too severe, how came
you not to remit the half of the punishou-nt at the time
when you had to approve the sentence of the Court ?—lt
is not usual at that period ; it is usual to hold out to the
men that they are to receive the whole. It is left to the
discretion of the commanding officer to put the whole into
execution or not. I generally remit with an old offender
about three or four. We always make on allowance for a
young soldier on these occasions.
Was there a surgeon present?—Yes.
Was it said by the surgeon that he had beets punished
sufficiently ?—No ; no remark was made by him.
Did private Somerville seem to suffer much ?—He was
not so steady in the position as I have seen men, but he was
not much marked.

After he was taken down and taken away, do you
recollect addressing the men there assembled ?—Yes,
I d id.

Will you state to what effect ?--It is so long since, that
I cannot recollect, but I put it down ; as far ns 1 can re-
collect, I said, " Men, you are here assembled ; I have
a circumstance to mention to you relating to us all." I think
I said, " I have discovered at last the man who wrote the
letter in the Weekly Dispatch." I think I said, "I am
happy for it, because the odivaa cannot fall on any other
person." I think I went on to say, " I regret it very
!ouch, and I am sorry to see anybody write in the news-
papers or publish a libel on the regiment, and particularly
so young a soldier as the man just punished." I said
" It is not a soldier's duty to meddle with politics or to
write in the papers, and particularly a man who writes
and says he knows well our sentiments." I think I said,
"I deny the fact; bow can a man know tl e sentiments of.
a whole region nt when he has never be,n with above
half." I then went on to nay, that I had been w rit-
ten to on the subject of the state of the regiment,
as much had been said about Political Unions, and
our having joined them ; and I wrote hack in re-
turn, that you would ever find the Greys steady and
firm, like rocks; and I remember bringing back
to their recollection, two winters ago, when I bad them
in London, whin we were up three nights in the riding-
school; I brought back to their recollection a circumstance
that was asked me there, anti I said that the Greys would
he ever firm and would do their duty. I then closed the
thing by stating that I related these circumstances from
the situation of the town, as I had known the regiment
twenty}ears, been brought up with them, and had been
very little away from them, certainly not for the last three
years ; that I knew every man's sentiments, or nearly so,
in the regiment ; and I knew they would always act the
Dart of good soldiers. I think that was all that 1 said.
Was that all that passed that was material?.—That was
that passed, I think, as far as I can recollect.

Did you wake any allusio❑ to the offence of which pri-