The Sun.
London, England, 1845-09-03 00:00:00

SEPERATE TRIALS.

In a trial "on a wind," on the 2tith July, with the two-
deckers only, chasing to windward under double-reefed topsails.
topgallant sails, jib, and spanker, wind westerly, at a rate of
sailing from 4 to 4i knots, the result was said to be thus:—
Albion, Canopus, Vanguard, Rodney, and Superb.
With reference to the Queen and Albion, a trial sailing on a
wind took place on the 31st July, under double-reefed topsails,
fure and maintopgallant sails, jib, and spanker. Wind NW by
W W, veering a point each way. Rate of sailing, six knots.
The Albion had a decided advantage.
A trial was instituted between the Canopus and Vanguard at
the same time. The Canopus would have beaten the Vanguard
if she had not missed stays, and was obliged to wear; as it
&cm the advantage of the Vanguard was little more than a
sable's length.
A trial took place on the 30th July, on a wind, between the
Rodney, Superb, and the Canopus, under single-reefed top-
sails, topgallantsails, jtb, and spanker; wind NW by W, with
a swell from the NE. Rate of sailing, between four and five
knots. It lasted about three hours, when the Rodney beat the
Superb about a third of a mile, and the Superb the Canopus a
cable's length. 7he two former shook out their first reefs.
The inclination of the Rodney was t 3 deg., Superb 6 deg., and
Canopus 7 deg.

Th'e Rodney and the Superb had a trial, July 31, on a wind,
under double-reefed tqp,ailf, fore and main topgallant sails, j b.
and si.anker. Wind veering from NW by NV to N W
Rate of sailing six knots. The Rodney beat the Superb about
a quarter of a mile. The Superb endeavoured to weather the
Rodney, but failed. Another trial took place between these
ships on the 2d of August, on a wind, when the Rodney more
signally beat the Superb. The inclination of the former 5
deg. and the latter 41.
On the same day a trial took place with the Queen and
Trafalgar, on a wind, under courses, single-reefed topsails,
topgallant sails, jib, and spanker. Wind from NW by W to
%V NW, Rate of sailing, from ;live to six knots. The Queen
beat the Trafalgar, but during the trial the Queen set her fore
and main royals and flying jib.
On the 13th of August three sets of trials took place on a
wind, between the three three-deckers; the Albion, Rodney,
and the Canopus, Vanguard, and Superb ; wind moderate,
SE by S. Rate from bur and a half to five and a half knots.
The Queen beat the St. Vincent nearly a male, and the Tra-
falgar more than one mile and a third. The Rodney lost
more than half an hour in shifting her foretopsail, or the
Albion would have been beaten. As it was, the Albion had
the advantage of about two miles. The Canopus seat the
. Superb and Vanguard four miles and a
. .

Another trial took place, August 19, on a wind, with all the
two-deckers, except the Albion. The Vanguard and Superb
carried single-reefed topsails, fore and main topgallant sails,
jib, and spanker. and the Rodney and Canopus with two reefs
in these salts. Wind, Nby E E. The Vanguard and Su-
perb close together haat the Rodney and Canopus. The
Rodney wzs delayed in lowering her cutter to save a man
overboard who was los'.
The three-deckers and the Albion tried on the 19th Au-
gust on a wind, the Trafalgar, Queen, and Albion, under
sing'.e-reefed topsails, fore and main topgallant sails, jib, and
rpanker ; St. Vincent, under double-reefed topsails, no top-
gallant sails, inner jib, and mizen. Wind, Nby E E, sweil
from the NW. The Albion was first, Trafalgar second, and
Queen third. St. Vincent was a mile and a half behind.
THE EXCELLENT GVNNERT SHlP.—Commodore Chad.'
appointment to the command of this ship is highly flattering
to that officer, and most honourable to the Earl of Hadding-
ton. It was purely from his distinguished services and the
well-known high state of efficiency of the gunnery practice in
the ships Captain Chads recently commanded—the Andro-
mache, 25, and the Cambrian, 36—that induced Lord Had•
dington to offer the appointment to Captain Chad-, who never
made an applicacation in any shape for the command of the
ExcePent. It. is said this ship will in future bear a second
captain instead of a coremander. Captain Lowe, whose ;to-
motion we announced yesterday, has been appointed pro tem.
Commander Moorman, whose promotion ba that rank we also
gave yesterday, was the gunnery lieutenant, and i 3 considered
a clever and talented officer. He had the charge of instructing

She &Bee!, and seamun gunners for a long time. Lieut. Lee
was the gunnery mate.

APPOINTMENTS.

Mr. Samuel W. Webb (18:36), late assistant-surgeon of the
Medea steam-sloop, has been promoted to the rank of surgeon.
Lieutenants—Lmchlin H. Mackinnon (1812), has been ap-
pointed to the Heroine, 6, at Devonport, for service on the
coast of Africa; and William I. R. Caird, late of the Hya-
cinth, has been appointed to the Kingfisher, 12, at Ports-
mouth, for service, on the coast of Africa.

Master—J. G. H. Thain, lately promoted from the Royal
yacht to the Kingfisher.
Mate—Frederick W. Gough, of the Excellent, to the Pre-
sident.

Master's Assistant—J. G. Millet, to the Victory.
Naval Cadets—J. Hussey and A. J. Innes, to the President,
Boatswain W. Clefft and Carpenter Thomas Searle, to the
Heroine.

THE LATE CAPTAIN ROBERT MAUNSELL, C.B. Our
obituary, yesterday, recorded the death of Captain Robert
Maunsell, C. 8., a commissioner of Greenwich Hospital.
Captain Maunsell was a gallant and distinguished officer, and
was very much respected. His first promotion in 1805, to
the rank of lieutenant, was for service in the boats of the
Maidstone, when midshipman of that ship the preceding year,
in cutting out a convoy near Toulon. In 1808. he was pro-
moted to the rank of commander, and won his last step
of post rank while commanding the Procris sloop, by a most
gal!ant exploit of leading her beats to tke attack of six French
gun boats, which he captured off the Island of
Java, and by his services on shore at the reduction of
that island in 1811. In 1831 he commanded the Alfred, 50,
in the Mediterranean ; in 1838 he was nominated a Companion
of the Bath ; in 1849 he commanded the Rodney, 92, in the
Mediterranean, and in her voyage to the Cape with a regiment
of cavalry ; and in 1844 was appointed a Commissioner of
Greenwich Hospital.
SHIPS FOR COMNIISSION AT CHATFIAII.—The Gloucester,
50-gun frigate, and the Meander, 44-gun frigate, are ready at
Chatham for the pendant. The Retribution steam-frigate is
reported ready to-day at that port. The Calypso, 20, will be
ready next month, and the Cockatrice, victualling schooner, in
November. The Southampton, 50, the Columbine, 16, and
the Magpie, 2, are preparing for sea service.
The Daring. 12, Commander Matson, ordered to Devonport
on the arrival at Cork of the Crocadile, 26, Captain Maxwell,
to take the flag of Sir H. Pigot, will call at Bristol on her way
thither, and convey the volunteer seamen waiting a passage to
Devonport.
M. stirs 11iller, Ravenhill, and Co., of Blackwell, who have
just fitted the engines of the Gladiator, steam-frigate, and are
building the Minx, iron screw war steamer, for the Admiralty,
have had their tender accepted for constructing engines for
the Rifleman, of 2uo horse-power, building at Portsmouth
Dockyard.
The Dwarf, iron steam screw vessel, Lieut. Commander
Beauchamp Proctor, at Woolwich, under orders to proceed

to Sheerness, to be under the orders of the Commander-in-
Chief there. Messrs. Smith and Dickson, engineer:, have been
appointed to her.
The Lightning, steam •tender, Master Commander Pettey,
has been having some trifling defects repaired at Woolwich,
which will be finished to-day. It is expected she will proceed
to Antwerp to morrow.
The Rhadamant bus, steam-transport, Master Commander
T. 11. Lauri, n landing at Dublin w jib troops from Devoo-
port, will proceed to Cardiff and Pater, and convey troops thence
to Cork.
The Meteor, stem-vessel. Lieut. Commander Butler. will
be refitted and ready for sea at Woolwich, on the tith October.

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CASE of LIEUTENANT HOLLIS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sin,—l shall ft el greatly Coliged by our inserting
the inclosed letter in the columns of sour widely-cir-
culated journal, together with my petition to Per:iument,
of which I beg to send you a copy, with the view of
counteracting the e&ct of an erroneous statement of my
case recently made by th.a Honourable raid Noble
Member to whom the letter is adlressod.

I am, Sir, your most obedient servant,
WILLIAM HOLLIS,
Late Lieutenant, Madras Army.
Camberwell, Aag. 30, 1845.

TO VISCOUNT JOCELYN, M.P., SECRETARY TO THE RIGHT

LION. THE BOARD OF CONTROL,

My Lord,—Previously to Mr. I:,cott's motion on my
case being agreed to on the sth inst., your Lordship
stated to the House (as reported in sosered newspapers,
end as heard by myself) that it was " found nventisary to
put Lieweuant Ifol'is under arrest" while out on his
voyage to India. Lieut,nant 110 broke that arrest
I very grave (1-fence —and harsh I:.;uguage to hi;
superior oftio r. wa=, in point of Ne., assertii g
that there were just grotr,s for the arrest ; that it :e•
▪ 'd from some tlt se indtit, some hr. ache of di,eipliue
arm nisurt:on most prjUdielai to the merits the case,
in to whi, h I 411 Cale(' upon to ifer (Ai.h al, due
Inf.:Ter:cc to yout• Lordship) al utignalitio.l and public
contradiction.

Ou my king dclivere,l (Sr.- to the atith-ri;,ei tit
13ombiy, not the s'ightu ehlr:.;t! vas prct-rred h 1-7,Jpt.
liLna : "is ju tificition ,f the: arrt Ft..' Sur Cris
lid not pr.ve that it wa, " neeessavy," " tor seemeill
to me unr,atomild.! to sund ri pri.ontr, am! i,ot %%fund t,)
Agnify the? crimes laid a.;;;i::st. km." A reeettmeo to
,tarious official documents eml;odied in my paition. will
tt oace convOiee your Lor,isiip molt the vito'.ice of
!olduct and ,xp.tession, for I was tried by vo,:ct-n,:titis,i,
.vas wholly att.:lbw:Wl, to a false and utalieiods imrn-
:ornnent, proeeded ;:nd li,wed up by a se.tes
ti letters ; !hat i! w:s t xpr. s,iy stated io t.Le ''of thy c,urt" :hat 1,...i0nr!," had ‘•
placed under arrest on m‘roond) ur:Mineet-(1 aPh
nilitary duty I" hil 1, rutisP'7l that it was rot
" nee:26Sary to ttindcr art e.-C at all.
ilt is stated n ‘3eneral AVilson's testimonial (which was
rad al•t:uti iiy Mr. Esoott) that the ignominy all
'ering," " the frequent provCcations." `• ,01 ( WAS
io long subject." were, ",:11 t f tlein together per-
tutpreeedented to tiny one in tie situltion of urt
offic::r in the army ;" and it is to be hoped, for sir*
honour of the service, that sttel tli;”.Y.ract fill treatment--
to which I have been allow, d to fall It st,crltice!--may
never ba repeated. I have at lea-t the satisfaction of
knowing, that so long as I was treated as a gentieman,
conducted myself becomingly as sin officer, sad it is no 4
right that my character should suffer, both in this coun-
try and in India, through any mi,representution of fat.es.
I. trust, therefore, that thcre will be no improprie.y in
publishing this letter, togethir with th petition, in
order to remove any errt;neotts impressions which may
have been formal mi the ; and that when tile
case is again brought under discussion next ses,,iun of
Parliament, your -Lordship will do me the justice to ad-
mit that the arrest was as unwarrantable us the court-
martial resulting from it was illegal.
I hayo the honour to be, my Lord, your Lordship's
most obedient and very humbleservealt,

W. HOLLIS,
Late Lieutenant, Madras Army.
Camberwell. Aug. 30, 1845.
P.S. The publication of this letter is the more neccs-
stry, in consequence of General Wilson's testimonial
not having been reported; whereas your Lordship's
,tatemertt appeared at full length. The former is alto-
gether as exculpatory of my conduct as the latter was
condemnatory.

The follolnieg is the pmition above referred to:—
The humble petition of William Ho,liA, late a Lieutenant in
the 36th Regiment, Madras Native Infantry,
Sheweth, _ . .

That your petitioner entered the military service of the East
India Company on their Madras establishment, in the year 1826.
That, in 1840, your petitioner, on his return to India (having
come to England for the benefit of his health), did duty, by
order of the Court of Directors, with a detachment of recruits,
proceeding to Bombay in the ship " Inglis," under the com-
mand of Captain Robert Mignan, of the Bombay army.
That the vessel finally sailed from Falmouth on January 6,
and on March 10, and April 2, respectively, your petitioner was
" ordered in arrest at large," and " under close arrest," " on
grounds unconnected with his military duty" (recommendation
of the court-martial), and otherwise subjected to oppression
and a system of irritation, in every way calculated to drive a
man to commit himself; in which object Captain Mignan at
length succeeded, and for which he ultimately received a severe
reprimand in general orders. His conduct has likewise been
forcibly described in the following testimonial. which your
petitioner had the honour anti satisfaction to receive from his
former highly respected commanding-officer, Major-General
Wilson, C.B.

" 39. Dorset-square, February 8, I P,41.
" Having, since the letter I wrote to Mr. Hollis, at Bombay,
in August -last, giving my testimonial of his conduct and elm-
ra,ter,- from my knotsledge of bath as his commanding-cancer,
give. further attention to his case in respect to the matter in
which he was involved on his pasage from England, I ran de-
clare it as my opinion, founded en my own knowledge of him,
and the general sentiments of his brother officers, and those
who have long known him, that nothing but the ignortioy and
suNering, accompanied with the frequent ltrovnealions—alt of
them together perhaps unprecedented to ,ny one in the situa-
tion of an officer in the army—to whirl) he wzs so lo:,g sub-
jiet, could have stirred him u? to that violence of language for
which he was ahem :ads brouAt to a court-martial.

(Signed) " F. W. WILSON, Major- G..neral."
That your petitioner having. on April 3 (the day after ha
was placed `•under cto•e arrest"), broken his arrest ‘• by enter-
ing the euddy," and then and there insulted Captain Mignan,
on his arrival at Bombay (\lay 3). his conduct was investi-
gated by a court of inquiry, whose proceeding; closed at

" The court think it their duty, before closing the proceed-
ings, to advert to the long and irriqoing correspondence
entered into by Captain Mignan with Lieutenant Hollis, and
continued after that officer had been placed in arrest ; and
further to record their opinion that the many f‘ivolous com-
plaints preferred by Captain Mignan against that officer, and
particularly the gailirg, and, as it appears to the court, unwar-
rantable taunt, marked B in page 25 of the correspondence, in
a great measure led to those acts on the part of Lieutenant
Hollis, which have been made matter for their invest;gation.
(Signed)

A. T. REID, Major, and President..-
.HY. HANCOCK, Major, and Memb.'r.
JS. H. CH AL7IIERS, Capt. Marine Batt.
and Member."

That in the month of June, 1840, sour petitioner was tried,
and sentenced " to be dismissed the service," by a court- mar-
tial, " holden by virtue of a warrant from his Excelleney Lieu-
tenant-General Sir Thomas M.Mahon, Bart., and K. C. B ,
Commandenin-Chief" at Bombay; whereas, according to the
then existing provisions of the Mutiny Act, the Commander-
in-Chief at Madras was the sole and exclusive authority to
appoint a court-martial for the trial of an officer belonging to
that Presidency. (4 Geo. IV. cap. 81, see.3o.)
That, in the month of August fohowin.g, your petitioner ob-
tained two opinions as to the illegality of his trial—the opinion
of Major-General Vans Kennedy, a high authority on points
of military law, and of Mr. Cochrane, a barrister of eminence
in the Supreme Court at Bombay. General Kennedy, after
referring to a particular section (the thirtieth) of the Mutiny
Act, comes to this conclusion "In your care, Sir Thomas
AP .Mahon appointed a court-martial for the trial of an officer
of the Madras Presidency, in which he is not employed ; and,
consequently, unless the words just quoted have no meaning,
he exceeded the power vested in him, by convening a court-
martial for the trial of an officer who was not " of or belong-
ing to the Presidency of which he was Commander-in-Chief."
'I hat, in the month of September, your Petitioner, on per-
sonally submitting these opinient to Sir James Camay, Gover-
nor at Bombay, was recommended " to go home to the Court
of Directors."
That accordingly your Petitioner returned to this country,
and in a memorial, dated Jantary 14, 1841, solicited from the
Court his restoration to the service, on the ground dins illegal
trial, hut more particularly in considerateon of the Alamein'
treatment that led to to it.
hat in a letter, dated May 15, 1841, the Court refused to
comply with the prayer of his inemori,l; but at the same time
granted him *. an allowance of 701. a year," which was, pro
twit°, an acknowledgment of his having been unjustly dealt
with.
That your Petitioner, viewing it in this light, has received
the allowance under protest, and only as a part of his full pay
in India as Lieutenant, to which, having been unjustly de-
prived of his commis-ion, he will lays claim.
That, on March 14, 1844, in a "Judgment delivered by Fir
Erskine Perry, Rot., in her Aiaj-sty's Supreme Court of Judi-
cature at Bombay," it was decided that " jurisdiction is given
to each Commander-in- Chief respeetively, and to each exclu-
sively over his own army." The Learned Judge. moreover,
very justly observed, that " in the army to which ho (the
offender) belongs, and where he may have been serving for a
number ot years, circumstanee• may be known and brought
forward which might have great weight with his Com-
mander-in-Chief towards commutation of a sentence; bet if
the temporary service of a few days in another Presulrt ey is to
place his fate in the hands of another officer, to whom the same
grounds for exercising a merciful discretion are not readily
pmesentable or available, it might make all the difference be-
tween lite and death to a prisoner ;" an observation pointedly
:ipplieahle to the manner in which your Petitioner was tried,
and the sentence "approved and confirmed," without any re-
ference made to "his Command:.r-in-Chief."
That upon this, your Petitioner, ou June 22, 1844, again re-
quested that the sentence of court-martial might be reversed
by his restoration to the service, which was again
uperemptoB ril
y
taking no notice whatever of the judge's decision, from which
J
refused, the Court of Directors in their reply ( y
there has been no appeal, but merely stating that they de-
cline to depart from the decision on your case, as communi-
cated to •ou under date Slay 15, 1841, and as since confirmed
upon repeated occasions."
That about this very time (3/ay and June, I`+44), a Pill was
brought into Parliament by the Hight Hon. the Earl of Ripon,
President of the Board ot Control, giving to the Commauder-
in-Chief at each Presidency the power previously assumed
(and that so greatly to the injury of your petitioner) by the
Commander-in-Chief at Bombay—viz., the power of appoint-
ing courts-martial for the trial of any officer or soldier of either
Presidency,
"who may be, or come within the local limits of
(his) command."
Lastly, that your petitioner, wI en appealing to the Court of
Directors (under the advice of Sir James Carnac), was not
aware that there existed at the India House what appears to be
a singular regulation, or by-kw, by which the members of the
Honourable Court are pleased to consider themselves bound
and under the shelter of which it was n., dsubt convenient to
overlook the peculiar features of his ease altogether—viz., " that
the practice to which, in several instances, individuals have
resorted, (.1 coming to England to appeal to them from the
decisions of their local Government, is highly disapproved of
by them, and will by no means tend to advance the object of
those who may adopt so irregular a course."
Wherefore your petitioner most humbly and respectfully
prays that your Honourable. House may institute tech an in-
quiry into the merits of his case as will, he trusts, lead to the
annulment of the proceedings and sentence of a court-martial,
holden in a mariner contrary to the provisions of an Act of
Parliament; and so make manifest that the rights and privi-
leges ot British subjects, of British soldiers, whether in the
service of her Majesty or the East India Company, whether at
home or abroad, are sure to be protected.
And your petitioner will ever pray.
Winchester, 2.2 d July, 1845.

WM. HOLLIS.