The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-23 00:00:00

LSirJOHN FR KLIN, Oomtnanding
the Expedition.

" All well.

" Whoever finds this. paper is requested to forward
it to the' Secrttary of the, Admiralty, London, with
a note.of the time and place at which it was found,
or if more Convenient, 'to eeliver it for that purpose
to the-.Bri:tish COnsinl at the,nedrest port.":
The same in French.
The same in Spanish.
The same in Dutch.
-The-FtiaTiFin-12116Ash.
. 'The same la-Gorman: _

" Left'thcAips Moriday,,the 24th of MAy,l&47,
the party cOnsiaing:oftwo officers andtix mcs.
" G. M. GOItE, -Lieutenant;
" CHAS. F. DES VCEUX,',Mate."

The words " winteresULlB46-47 at__Beeehey
Island" should be in 1845-46," as in 1846-47
they were.beset in the ice, and the ships abandoned
in April,.lB4B. , Tll3. same mistake occurs in both
papers. • •,;
" Admiralty;.Sept. 22."

MUTINY ON BOARD TEE GlthAT

STERN.

A special petty sessions was.beld at Weymouth
on WedneSday, before Captain Manning and R. H.
Swaflield, Esq., county magistrates,' for the "Purpose
of hearing a charge preferred by Captain Harrison,
the commander, agfunit 30 of the crew for mutin-
ous conduct on board the great Eastern,,in having
wilfully disobeyed orders on Sunday morning last.
The names of the defendants were James Laing,
Francis Johnson, John Wilson, John" Brown, Ed-
ward Dowell, Chapman ',Purnell, Chatlps Linsell,
John Martin, Henry Ben well, Grimsok.Thurston,
Forssell Sigfrid, Win. Bullard, Brandford Copeman,
Joseph Brodie, John Cullen, Alex. Donaldson. Wm.
Hunter, John Wright, Charles Benson, Frederick
Kepsky, Henry Numroe; -Robert Owens, Stephen
Morehouse, James Atkins,' Robert Mitchell, Wm.
Ward, Richard, Milky, John Wilby, Wm.:Cobb,
and Thomas Friend; and the particulars of:the case
will be gathered from the evidence Wow.
Mr. Hoivard appeared on theNpart, of Captain
Harrison, and Mr: Hill for the defettliyht.s.
The case having been brieilje:', by Mr.
Howard, he called

stoza

Mr. Nicholas Prowsei who " ,ilem senior
officer on board the Great Eastern. ThWaJfendants,
30 in-number, are all sertnetibelongitliFilie7.' In
consequeuee, of .Mr. Randall, the officer in command,
reporting to 'me that the boatswain had some diffi-
culty in getting the men to wash decks I imme-
diately went up and mustered. I askedthem why
they refused to wash decks when ordered. A few
of then answered—two in particular, Francis' John-
son and Joseph Brodie--that there was no necessity
.for washing decks on a Sunday, and they should
do nothing but what was required, and-waihilfg
decks on Sunday morning wag not necessary. Not
believing this was the feeling amongst the whole
of the men, 1. ordered those who were determined
to refuse to obey orders to stand on the starboard
side of the deck, and those who were inclined to do as
they were ordered to stand a little further aft. The
men present walked on the starboard side, and about
the same number walked aft, signifying that they
were prepared to obey orders, and they at once
proceeded to wash decks. The defendants went for-
ward and knocked off work. As soon as possible I
reported the affair to Captain Harrison. The de-
fendants have signed the- ship's articles: I put in
the official log-book, in which are entered the names
of the men, and the complaint made against them.
When I reported it to Captain,Harrisonle ordered
me to muster thoge who had refused duty on deck.
I did so, and Captain Harrison asked them why
they refused to obey orders. Brodie was the spokes-
man on this' occasion • he answered in pretty much
the same terms as before—that they did not see the
necessity of washing decks on Sunday, and that
they would not do it. They then went below, and
have not been on 'duty since. It is usual to wash
decks on Sunday mornings, whether at sea or in
harbour, in any vessel:
Cross-examined.—The Great Eastern has not her
full crew on board. There were about 60 %able,
bodied seamen on board, including the prisoners.
The work imposed upon them was not more than
sufficient for them to do. They were quite sufficient
to do all that is required as she lay in Portland
Roads. There have been a great number of visi-
tors on board, which very possibly made the dead
more dirty than-usual. The men on board kept a
watch of two hours, which is always the custom.
They would be liable to be called upon, as at pre-
sent, even if there was a full crew. Brodie came to
me on the Monday, and said he was willing to do
any necessary work, laying a stress on the wor d
" necessary. He did not mean on the Sundays,
and he left me with the impression that he intended
to judge what was necessary on Sunday. Never
knew an instance of ship's articles being placed in
the forecastle. I have always understood that when
a ship's crew was completed and ready to proceed
to sea, a copy of the ship's articles is to be placed so
as the men might have access to it. I am not
aware there is a penalty for net doing so, but
the articles have been read over to the men
when they signed, and each man was asked if
he understood- them. The articles were not read
over to the men when their disobedience was reported
to me. There was a copy of the articles on board,
and if any man had asked to see it, there was
one accessible to him, but there was not one posted
up. According to the articles the men are obliged
to be clean on. Sundays, so as to attend Divine
worship, but we have not had a service on board as

yet. Had those 60 men turned to and cleaned decks
when ordered, each man could have gone below and
cleaned himself by. eight o'clock in the morning.
They had never disobeyed before.
Re-examined--Those who remained were not
enough to wash decks, but they swept the decks.
All those men had only two hours watch from six
the previous evening. I consider they have had
easy duty since they left the river.
Captain Harrison was then called. He said—On
Sunday morning, in, consequence of what I heard, I
ordered the men who had refused to be mustered,
and went on deck. I asked them why they had re-
fused to obey orders. Brodie answered that they.
did not consider washing decks on Sunday neces-
sary work. I told them I did not think they were
the right parties to" judge what was necessary ; I
considered it to be so, and requested them to do it.
Brodie made some remarks about having a soul to
be saved, and I said I wanted the decks washed,
and if they did not choose to turn to they might go
forward, which they did.
Cross-examined—Brodie used the words "I" and
" We," speaking for himself and the rest.
Mr. Hill, for the defendants, said he could not
deny that the defendants had disobeyed orders, but
it had been clearly shown that it was the first of-
fence of that nature they had committed. He was
of opinion that the charge of combination against
Johnson and Brodie could not be sustained, as there
was no act in evidence to prove tlia /such was the
case. In answer to the charge of diobedience he
might state that if the act of Parliament had ;von
complied with, by the agreement being posted up,
as well as made accessible, in all probability they
would not have refused to obey orders. They were
clearly under the apprehension that washing down
the decks on Sunday did not come within the no-
g
uirements of the articles. - Under these circum-
stances he hoped the magistrates would be pleased
to look upon this affair leniently.
to Mr. Hill, said
Captain Harrison, in reply he
did not intend to employ any one of the men again.
After the way in which they had behaved he should
certainly decline doing so.
Captain Manning, addressing Johnson, said that
the magistrates had taken his case into their most
serious consideration. From the evidence it ap-
peared that he had been in some measure the ring-
leader in this unfortunate matter, and had thus led
the other men into the dilemma in which they were
placed. The sentence upon him was that he should
be imprisoned for a
month with hard labour, and
that two days' pay should be forfeited, if there were
any wages due to him. Brodie had also figured
conspicuously in this matter, but not in so bad a
,
degree as Johnson. He would therefore be impri-
soned, with hard labour, for three weeks, and also
to forfeit two days' pay. The remainder would be
imprisoned, with hard labour, for a fortnight, and
be subject to a similar forfeiture of wages.
They were afterwards taken in custody to the
County Gaol, at Dorchester.—Dorset County
Chronicle.

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