The Sun.
London, England, 1857-08-21 00:00:00

SUMMER ASSIZES.

NORTHERN CIRCIIIT.—LIVERPOOL, AUG. 19.
CROWN COURT.
(Before Mr: Baron Watson.)

CHARGE OP MURDER ON THE HIGH SEAS.-ATROCIOUS
CRUELTIES TO A SEAMAN.

Henry Rogers, 37, master mariner, William Miles, 27,
seaman, and Charles Edward Seymour, 25, seaman, were
indicted for the murder, on the high seas, on the 6th of
June last, of a seaman named Andrew Rose.
Mr. Attorney-General Bliss, 'Q.C., with Mr. E. James,
Q.C., and Mr. Whitby Seymour, appeared for the prose-
cution ; Mr. Monk, Q.C., for Rogers ; and Mr. Aspinall
for thtipther prisoners.
The ease, as stated by Mr. Bliss, revealed a series of the
most atrocious and horrible cruelties perpetrated by the
prisoners. Rogers was the master of the British barque
Martha and Jane, and the other two prisoners the first and
second mates. Last Year the vessel sailed from Hartlepool
to Calcutta. Here there was a change in masters, and the
vessel after wards•sailed to Demerara, and thence to Barba-
does, where another change in masters took place, and
where Rogers joined as captain. The deceased joined the
ship at Barbadoes also, and went on board on April 29,
1857, having signed articles as an able seaman. Soon after
his going on board the second mate found fault with the
mode in which the deceased performed some duty,' and
beat him. Having been advised by some of the crew to
do so, Rose ran away, but was afterwards captured and
brought back on the 9th or 10th of May. He was pnt in
irons, and on the 11th of May the vessel sailed. The de-
ceased was released soon afterwards from the irons, and
was again beaten both by the captain and seeend mate.
From this time until a day or two before the vessel made
land be was abused almost every day by one or more of the
prisoners; and frequently when he was in irons. When
the deceased joined the ship he was an " able seaman."
He bad his hair closely cut, and from some other circum-
stances it was considered that his intellect was somewhat
deranged. He used frequently to sing; and ono Sunday he
was singing " Oh, that will be joyful !" on the forecastle
when the captain came to him and ordered him to desist.
He obeyed, upon which the captain said to' him, "I will
make you sorrowful." The mates then, by direction of the
captain, brought an iron bolt, which the captain forced into
the deceased's mouth, and fastened with spun yarn round
the back of his head. He was thus kept for about an hour
and a half. A subsequent act of cruelty was the training of
a dog which was on board, named " Watch," to bite the
deceased, and whenever the dog saw the captain beating
Rose, it would fly at him and bite pieces out of his legs,
and when he put his hands down to protect his legs when in
irons, the d, g would bite pieces out of his arms and hand.
On one occasion, after the deceased had come down from
the furling Fails, he was again sent up naked, with a
bucket of wooer in his hands, and the chief mate followed
him and beat him with a whip until the blood flowed from
the wounds. Other acts of cruelty are too shocking to be
described. The final atrocity was as follows :—The cap-
tain was heard to say to the deceased, " I wish you would
either hang or drown yourself." The deceased replied
that the captain ought to do this, whereupon the captain
made a running noose, put it round the deceased's neck,
and had him hoisted about three feet from the deck. In
this pcsition the deceased remained for about two minutes,
and when let down he was unable to stand ; he frothed at
the mouth, and his eyes were starting from his head. The
captain was heard to say that if Rose had hung another
half minute he would have been "done for." The de-
ceased, after this, was removed to the forecastle, but from
this time his mind and body got weaker and weaker, and
on the sth of June he wad brought up on deck, where he
lay down and died.
Thomas Hayes, an able seaman, who was examined by
Mr. James, corroborated the statements of the learned
counsel fir the prosecution. When the deceased came on
board ho appeared to be in a bad state of health. Witness
never heard the deceased disobey orders.
In cross-examination by Mr. Monk, it was elicited that
the deceased frequently soiled the deck and his clothes ;
that when not in irons he always did his work ; and that
on one occasion, when he appeared to be either drunk or
mad, the crew tied the deceased up by the wrists.
The other evidence adduced was generally corroborative
of the statements for the prosecution. Medical evidence
was adduced also, to show that the treatment which the
deceased had received had accelerated his death.

Mr. Monk addressed the jury on behalf of the prisoner
Rogers at considerable length. He alluded to the respon-
sible position in which a commander of a vessel was placed,
who was answerable not only for the property under his
charge, but also for the lives of his cl ow. He asked if it
was probable that tho prisoners should wish to weaken
their crew by removing the deceased, taping into conside-
ration the fact that the crew was already three men short
of the complement. He did not for a moment wish to
justify such foolish proceedings as putting a man in a cask.
Mr. Aspinall, on behalf of the mates, urged that they
were bound as the captain's inferiors to obey his orders;
and that what thoy did was done in carrying out those
orders.
The learned judge then summed up the evidence, and the
jury retired to consider their verdict.
At twenty minutes before 11 o'clock the jury returned a
verdict of Guilty against all the prisoners.
The learned judge then proceeded to pass sentence of
death upon the three prisoners.