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

TO VIS:OUNT JOCELYN, M.P., SECRETARY TO TUE maul.

HON. THE BOARD OF CONTROL.
My Lord,-Peevieusly to Mr. Escott's motion on my
case being . agreed to on the sth inst., your Lordship
stated to the House (as reported in several newspapers,
and as heard by myself) that it was " found necessary to
put Lieutenant Hollis under are eat" while out on has
voyage to India. Lieutenant Hollia broke that arrest—
a very grave offence—and used him!' language to his
superior
.officer. This WW, in point .0i fact, assertii g
that there were just grounds for the arrest I that it re•
suited from some misconduct, some breach of dis.inline ;
an assertion most prejudicial to the merits of tae case,
and to which I feel called upon to titer (with %11 due
deference to your Lordship) an'unqualified andnniblic
contradict ion.
On my being delivered over to the authariAes at
Bombay, not the s'ightest charge was preferred by Capt..
Mignan "in ju tificatien, of the arrest." Surely this
did not prove that, it was " necessary;" " for it scerneth
to me unraasonabla to send a pri: oner. and not veittol to
signify the crimes laid against him." A reference :a
cations official documents embodied in my petition, wilt
at once convince your Loreleiip that the violence of
conduct and expression, for I was triad by court-inertia:,
was wholly attributable to a false and malicious impri-
sonment, preceded and followed up by a series of insult-
ing letters ; that it was expia &sly stated in the " Recom-
mendation of the Court" that " the prisoner" had " been
placed under arrest on grounds unconnected a ith hrs
military duty ;" and, consequently, that it was not
"'necessary to put Lieutenant gollis under arrest" at alt.
It is stated in Ceneral Wilson's testimonial (a Well was
r: ad aloud by Mr. Escott) that " the ignominy and su-
fering," " the frequent provocations," " to which (1) was
so long subject, . were "all of them together per-
heps unprecedented to any one in ti e situation of an
officer in the army ;" and it is to be hoped, for the
honour of the service, that hue!' disgraceful treatmi nt—
to which I have been allow, d to fall a sacrifice !—may
never -be repeated. I have at leant the satsractiota of -
knowing, that so long*. as I was treated as a gamt!ernan, I
conducted myself becomingly as an officer, nut: it is not
right that my character should suitor, both in thia coun-
try and in India, through any mi,representation of facts.
I trust, therefor', that there will be no impropriety in
publishing this letter, together with the petition, in
order to remove nay erroneous impressions which may
have been formed on the subject ; and that when the
case is again brought under discussion next session of
Parliament, your Lordship will do me the justice to ad-
mit that the arrest was es unwarrantable as the court-
artial resulting from it was illegal.
I have the honour to be, my Lord, your Lordship's
most obedient and very humble servant,
W. HOLLIS,
Late Lieutenant, Madras Army.
C&nber well, Aug. 30, 180.
P.S. The publication of this letter is the more nec(s-
slry, in consequence cf General Wilson's testimonial
not 'having been reported; whereas your Lordship's
statement appeared at full length. The former is alto-
gether as exculpatory of my conduct as the latter was
condenarratory.

•
The following is the Twtition above referred to:—
The humble petition of William Hollis, late a Lieutenant in
the 36th Regiment, Madras Native Infantry,
Sheweth,
That your petiti iner entered the military service of the East
India Company on their Madras establishment, in the year 1826.
That, in 1840, ynur petitioner, on his return to India (having
come to England fur 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 'Mignon, of the Bombay army.
That the vc•sel 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," " otl
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 Mignon 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 and satisfaction to receive from his
former highly respected commanding-officer, Major-General
Wilson, C.B.

" 39, Dorset-square, February 8, 1841.
leaving, since the letter I wro'e to Mr. Hollis, at Bombay,
in August last, giseng my testimonial of his conduct and cha-
ca.:ter, from my knowledge of both as his commanding-officer,
given further attention to his case in respect to the matter in
which he was involved on his pa'sage from England, I can de-
clare it as my opinion, founded on my can knowledge of him,
and the general sentiments of his brother officers, and those
who have long known him, that nothing but the ignominy and
suffering, accompanied with the frequent provocations—all of
them together perhaps unprecedented to .any one in the situa-
tion of an officer in the army—to which he was so long sub-
ject, could have stirred him u? to that violence of language for
which he was a fterwsrds brought to a court-martial.
(Signed) "F. W. WILSON, Major-General."
That your petitioner haring. ou April 3 (the day after he
was placed "under close arrest"), broken his arrest `• by enter-
' ing the ruddy," and then and there iasulted Captain Alignan,
on his arrival at Bombay (May 31. his conduct was investi-
gated by a court of inquiry, whose proceeding; closed as
follows :
" The court think it their duty, before closing the proceed-
ings, to advert to the long and irrinieing correeposidence
entered into by Captain Mignen with Lieutenant Hollis, and
continued after that cfficor hod been placed in arrest ; and
further to record their opinion that the many frivolous com-
plaints preferred by Captain Mignan against that officer, and
particularly the gallirg, and, as it appears to the court, unwar-
rantable taunt, marked Bin peg, 25 of the correspondence, in
a great m-asure led to those ac's on the part of Lieutenant
Hollis, which have been mede matter for their investigation.
( Signed) A. T. REID, Major, and President.
11Y. HANCOCK, Make., and Member.
JS. H. CH ALM FeltS, Capt. Marine Batt.
a id Member."
That in the ameth of June, 1849, sour petitioner was tried,
and sentenced tt to be dismissed the service," by a court• mar -
tial, " holden by virtne of a warrant Irons his Excellency Urn-
tenant-Geeerel Sir Thome; M 'Mahon, Bart., argil .K. C. 13 ,
Commander-in-Chief" at bomb my ; whereas, according to the
then provisions cf tlie Mutiny Act, the Commander-
in-Cftief atMadras is the tele arid exclusive autkority to
:ire a court-martial for the trial of an offieer beloeging to
that Presidency. (4 Geo. IV. cap. 81, )
That, in the month of August fulitswitig, your petitioner ob-
tained two opieions as to the illegality cf his trial—the opinion
of Major-General Vans Kennedy, a high authority on points
of military last, an 3 of Mr. Cochrane, a barrister of eminence
in the Supreme Court at Bombay. General Kennedy. after
referring t t a particular section (the thirtieth) of the Mutiny
Act, comes to this conclusion : " In your case, Sir Thomas
M'illahon appointed a court-martial for the trial of an officer.
of the Mcdras 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 bels
ing to the Presidency of which he was Commander-ieisChiire!:
-That, in the month of September, your Petitioner, on per-
sonally submitting these opinions to Sir Janice Cermet, Gover-
nor at Bombay, was recommended " to to home to the Court .
of Directors."
.That accordingly your Petitioner returned to this country,
and in a memorial, dated January 14, 1841, solitited from the
Court his restoration to the tervice, on the ground of his illegal
trial, but more particularly in consideration of the shameful
treatment that led to to it.
That in a letter, dated May 15, 1841, the Court refused to
comply with the prayer of his memorial ; lint at the same time
granted him "an allowance of 701. a year," which was, pro
taut°, 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 commission, he still lays claim.
'That, on March 14, 1844, in a "Judgment delivered by Sir
Erskine Perry, Knt., in her Majesty's Supreme Court of Judi-
cature at Bombay," it was decided that "jurisdiction is given
to each Commander-in-Chief respectively, and to each exclu-
sively over his own army." The Learned Judge. moreover,
very justly observed, that " in the army to which he (the
offender) belongs, and where he may have been serving for a
number of years, circumstances may be known and brought
forward which might have great weight with bis Com-
mander-in-Chief towards commutation of a sentence ; but if
the temporary service of a few days in another Presidency is to
place his fate in the hands of another officer, to whom the same
grounds fur exercising a merciful discretion aro not readily
presentable or available, it might make all the difference be-
tween life and death to a prisoner ;" an observition pointedly
applicable to the manner in which your Petitioner was tried,
and the sentence " approved and confirmed," without say re-
ference made to "his Commander-in-Chief."
That upon this, your Petitioner, on June 22, 1844, again re-
quested that the sentence of court-martial might be reversed_
by his restoration to the service, which was again
refused, the Court of Directors in their reply
.(July 8, 1844 )
peremptorily
taking no notice whatever of the Wes decision, front
which
there has been no appeal, but merely stating that they cif-
cline to depart from the decision on your case, as communi-
cated to you under date May 15,
upon repeated occasions." 1841, and as since confirmed
time
the ay and June, 1844) a Bill Ras
That Hon. the Earl of e
Control,Mri giving to the Commander-
President power previously assumed
•Co Ripon,
Drought
ipnr.Tecshihdaietenaf itbnaoottufe thistetPah cae
each
pavomerarereysdni
dtoebfny
cy
(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.
mthaantd;Our petitioner, wi en appealing to the Court of
Directors (under the advice of Sir James Canine), was not
aware that there existed at the India House what appears to be
at singular
iree
tguoluart
ti o na
r,
eo rp
lbeya-s
el adr,
t,
ob whi
ch
der the
he:e seml
vbeesr sb oofu the
bound
and under the shelter of which it was no doubt convenient to
overlook the peculiar features of his case altogether—viz., " that
the practice to which, in several instances, individuals have
resorted, of 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 such an in-
quiry into the merits of his case as wilt, he trusts, lead to the
annulment of the proceedings and sentence of a court-martial,
holden in a manner contrary to the provisions of an Act of
Parliament; and so make manifest that the rights and privi-
legcs of 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.

WM. HOLLIS.

*Y. I Winchester, 22d July, 1845.