The Sun.
London, England, 1844-09-20 00:00:00

she was only acting under the control of her hus-
band, and she was acquitted. It turned out in the
course of the inveqti9,ntion
who es,:at).-,(i t.I)L: • ;-
had cohabited with bon fur SOliie ii!. -e: past,
that Bayntun's husband had been separated from her
many years, and that Bolton stood in the double re-
lationship of father and uncle to the boy he had ac-
cused of robbing him, and his wife was very anxious
to get rid of her rival by accusing her of the theft.
The prisoner Bolton kept out of the way until yester-
day morning, when he returned to his home, and a
policeman named Wykes, who saw him talking to
his wife in the shop, entered and took him into custody.
The Magistrate sentenced him to a pay a fine of
301., and in default of payment to be imprisoned and
kept to hard labour for three calendar months.
The prisoner was then removed from the dock and
put into the witness-box to give exidence against
William Bayntun, his nephew and reputed son, for
stealing a half-sovereign. •
Mr. 13ALLANTINE committed the prisoner for trial.

LIEUT. PUDDICO3II3E—HIS "BRO-
THER OFFICERS"—THE PRESS.
(From the Cork Examiner.)
" Trial by Jury—the glorious bulwark of the sub-
ject's liberty !" has long been a cant in the mouths of
unthinking and inconsiderate men, even of those
who, by their own acts, make a mockery of their
words, and a nullity of a great principle. How, or
in what terms, can we allude to the reprehensible
conduct of the brother officers of an unfortunate
young man, who, as yet, has not been found guilty
of any crime—who has not, as yet, been tried by a
jury of his peers ? We confess we have not language
strong enough to express our indignation at conduct
so precipitate, so wanton, so cruel, and so unjust.
An officer and a gentleman is invited to a ball—he
goes there, amuses himself for the evening, and retires
at a late hour. Some silver is missed; and, because,
in a week after a female offers broken pieces of silver
to a silversmith, and tells him that she had received it
from this officer, and that the silversmith believes that
he can discover the traces of a certain crest, or cer-
tain initials on the mutilated pieces of silver—
therefore this officer is guilty of a base and pal-
try robbery—therefore he has violated every prin-
ciple which the gentleman and the man of honour
should hold dear as his life—therefore he is guilty
without judge or jury, save and except the
rash judgment and unscrupulous verdict of his own
brother officers! The brother officers of an accused
man are the first to blacken him in the eyes of the
world, by a damning manifesto, in which guilt is not
only taken for granted, but positively asserted. We
have published this extraordinary document before
now, but we cannot avoid re-inserting this single
paragraph, at once remarkable for blundering con-
tradiction and illegal accusation :
" Lieut.-Colonel Burton and the officers of the bat-
talion of Royal Marines serving in Ireland, beg, indi-
vidually and collectively, to convey to Captain Warren
the expression of their indignation at the reported con-
duct of one of their brother officers, Lieut. Puddicombe,
for whose infamous violation of every principle of hos-
pitality and honour in Captain Warren's house, on a
recent occasion, they blush with shame."
Here, in the first place, they are indignant at the
" reported conduct" of a brother officer ; and then
they convict him, on the strength of mere report, of
infamous violation of every principle of hospi-
tality and honour in Captain Warren's house, on a
recent occasion." So then, if any man goes before a
magistrate, and accuses Lieut.-Colonel Burton of
picking a pocket, or stealing a spoon, or doing any
act which every rational person ought to be sure he
would not do, his own brother officers would be the
very first to express their " indignation" at his " re-
ported conduct," and to denounce him as guilty and
disgraced, before he had the benefit of a legal inquest.
Mutat° nomine, the case is the same, whether the. ac-
cused be Lieut. Puddicombe or Lieut.-Col. Burton.
But what injury has this document done to the
accused ? It has done him the greatest and most
grievous injury that any body of men could inflict
upon a single individual—it has prejudiced the public
against him, and, therefore, the minds of the jury
who are to be selected from that public. This is an
injury of the greatest magnitude.
There is something radically wrong in our nature
—a proneness to believe everything bad against our
brother; and hence, the rapid acceptance of an evil
report, or a foul accusation. We more readily
believe in a man's guilt than in his innocence ;
and the very fact of a man being accused of
a crime, or standing at the bar of justice,
charged with the commission of an offence, is in it-
self sufficient to array the whole prejudices of society
against the accused. Was not this prejudice heavy
enough against this unhappy gentleman, that his
brother officers should fasten conviction on the public
mind, and, of course, on the jury ? The fact is, that
where ever one turns in this city, in passage, in cove,
or for miles round, the cry is, " Oh, what a wretched
man is Lieut. Puddicombe I—how could he commit
so base an act ?—oh, he must be guilty—for otherwise
how could he have come by the silver ?" If ever man
were condemned before trial it is this unfortunate
young man. The belief of his guilt is universal.
And why not, when his brother officers have given the
sanction of their belief, and their indignation, to the
vulgar rage for false judgment?
A very serious question arises from this studiously
created prejudice—can this young man be safely tried
in this city? Can he hope.for a fair trial ? Is he cer-
tain of an unbiased jury? From what we know of
the present temper of the public mind, from commu-
nication with more than one hundred persons, we do
say, that a trial in this city would be a risk. No
matter how honourable twelve men are, no matter how
sensible, how rational, how just they may be, preju-
dice will taint the judgment of the most honourable,
the most sensible, the most rational, the most just. In
our opinion, it would he far better if the accused were
tried at the Fermoy Sessions, when the public feeling
would have cooled down into dispassionate calmness,
and when the evil influence of the document of his
"brother officers" had been in some degree neutralised
by time.
Now only imagine the cruel injustice of the follow-
ing paragraph
"It only remains for the Lieut.-Colonel and officers
to intimate to Captain Warren their intention to see
such measures immediately adopted as will remove Lieut.
Puddicome from her Majesty's service; and the Lieut-
Colonel and officers beg Captain Warren will have the
kindness to allow them to make good the articles of
plate that have been abstracted."
So, before the accused is found guilty, he is to be
regarded as guilty, and to be deprived of his commis-
sion—the means of his existence as a gentleman.
We have one word to say to a certain por-
tion of the local press. For the miserable de-
sire of furnishing a topic of scandalous gossip
to its readers, it has out-Heroded Herod--gone
beyond the inconsiderateness and injustice of
the " brother officers." Court-martial law is far
different from the law of the land. Officers know
but the former—a journalist is supposed not to be
utterly ignorant of the latter. And yet, the accused
has been stripped of his uniform, degraded, debased,
found guilty, and held up to public scorn, by a
thoughtless writer--all for the sake of appearing to
know something of a matter publicly agitated. To
our mind this conduct is disgraceful in the extreme,
and worthy of the strongest indignation. 'What
atonement can this journal make ? Ignorance is no
plea for such folly and injustice.
We say nothing about the guilt or innocence of the
accused—that question is for a jury. Our motto is
" fair play." ,
We conclude by publishing the following letter
from the respected agent of the accused, and shall
merely say that we fully concur in its tone and spirit :
" TO THE EDITOR OF THE CORK EXAMINER.
" Sir,—Having read in the Constitution and Reporter
newspapers of yesterday, a letter purporting to be
from the 'Colonel and Officers of the Marine Force
stationed at Spike Island," to Captain Warren, com-
menting in very strong language on the alleged mis-
conduct of their brother officer, Lieutenant Puddi-
combe, I trust you will give me space for one or
two observations. I was called on yesterday to con-
duct that gentleman's defence at the approaching ses-
sions, when I hope he will establish his innocence, and
vindicate his character as an officer and a gentleman.
Until then his case ought not to have been pre-judged
or prejudiced by such means. He has been advised, at
present, not to notice what has been said, unconstitus
tional and unfeeling as it appears. All, but the most
ignorant, know that the maxim of our law, founded,
as it is, on the purest principles of justice, is to pre-
sume every man innocent until he be found guilty by
the proper tribunal of the country. I say this much
to account for his present silence. He does expect that
the time will shortly come, when he can both speak
and act as the circumstances deserve.--I am, Sir,
your very obedient servant,
PHILIP 0 CONNELL.
37, South-mall, 13th Sept., 1844.

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The approaching marriage of the Duke d'Aumale,
say s Re.v the ue de Pari.y, is now certain. His Royal
Highness is to be married in November next to A niece
of the King of Naples, the Princess of Salerno ; she was
born in 1822, and is said to be very handsome, and i
./.
gifted with remarkable esprit.