Star.
London, England, 1831-06-17 00:00:00

ALLEGED MURDER AT SEA.

Yesterday, a partial investleation took place before .Ir.
Ballantine, at the Thames Police Office, touchi6g the de.tt4
of a seaman, named Thomas Elliott, who is alleged to have
been murdered on-board one of the lion. Company's ships,
in January, 1823, by being confined in a small spirit room
on the orlop deck. witzre he was suffocated for the want of
air, the third and fourth cffirers, who ordered him into icons,
forbidding any one to assist him.
The enquiry originated with Mr. Chales James Bassell,
saloon-keeper of the Royal Pavilion Theatre, who went out
as seaman, and one of the band in the sh'p, and who stated
that, ou Monday, the 10th of January, 1825. the deceased,
for some tfferce, was seized by tl'e two officers, who thrust
him down the after-hatchway, called for the gunner to put
him in irons, and then shut hint up in the spirit.rcom, not
more ti an IS feet square. Another sailor, named Edward
sPAllister, on remarking that it was a sham.. to use his ship•
mate in that manner, was served in the san.e way. The
door of the spirit-mom was then closet', and tLe hatches put
over the opening which led to it, and a tarpaulin placed over
the whole, preventing the admission of air. Tice meu were
confined all night, and their cries for water and the admis-
sion of air were described by Russell to be most dreadful ;
but tho third and fourth officers refused to let them have any
assistance. and in the morning, at six o'clock, cne of them
was brought out quite dead, and the other, M•Allister, w:.t.
so exh :tested, that the witness received him In his arms, and
he cried I:kc a child. The body of the deceased, after being
dissected, was consigned to the deep.
Russell underwent a long cross-examination by a Solicitor,
who attended on behalf of the accused gentlemen, cite of
whom haw la•ely gore out to China as Commander of a:,
East Ind;aman, and the witness alleged, as his reason fur
not coming forward before, was, that he never met with
any of the crew until within the last few weeks, when h.,
saw thou at the Theatre. He distinctly swore that the
men woe ironed together, and were unable to use their
hands to get at the spirits, and had no instruments to bore
Cie casks.

t ,Thomas Roberts, the gunner of the ship, said he bad a
eery impelfect reculh ction of the affair, but remen:beta
putting the min in irons, by the orders of the third ai.d four:
officers, hut they were in confinement from the :el...me:ay until
the Thursday nier..ing, when he was ordered to °pea the
door of the spirit-room, but the smell of the men and the spi-
rits was so strong, that it quite overpowered him, and he eras
compelled to retreat. He attended the men with their meals
while they were in irons. One of the prisoners was quite
dead, and the other in a very bad state wh.n brought out.—
The wins seemed very reluctant to say much about the
affedr, as, from his ignorance of the law, he considered he
might be implicated in the transaction.
Mr. BALLANTINI observed that the statement of the
' gunner, and his reluctance to give evidence, only excited a
graatet suspicion in his mind that the deceased had been
unf..irly dealt with; and it was due to the officers impli-
cated, and to the seamen in the merchant service, who were
interested in this investigation, that the truth and the whole
truth should be told.

Roberts declared that lie hid no wash to conceal a single
fact; but after the lapse of so many pars, he could not
bring the circumstances of the affair to his recollection.
William Youlton, the sail-maker, sa'd the men were put
in irons for drunkenness, and he thought it was after dinner
on the 3londay when they were confined, and were not libe-
rated until the Thursday, when Elliott was brought out ap-
parently suffocated. He never heard them singing oat for
water, and if they had, he must have heard them, as his bertn
was near the spirit-room. The ha cites were closed, and the
tarpaulin placed over ir.
Mt.BALLmerms enquired of the %foetus if it was usual
to confine the men in the spirit-room ?
The witnesses !Aid they never knew an instance of any of
the crew being confined in the spirlt-ronn, chher befcre or
after this transaction. It was not tl le usual place of con-
finement.

Na.haniel Grant, Esq. who was surgeon of the ship in
1825, stated that he recollec.ed the circumstance of the de.
ceased being brought out of the spirit-zoom. The body was
scarcely cold. On the posl sesor:en examination of the
corpse the stomach smelt of spirits, and the blood-vessels of
the head were much distended. Believes that the conclusion
he came to at the time was, that the deceased died from apo-
plexy, brought on by excessive drinking. He only spoke
from memory, and might be misteten, but his medical
journal, in the poi-session of the East India C,mpany, would
explain the whole citeutr.stances of the man's death.
Mr. BALLANTINI asked if a man who ha 'I been confined
from the Monday to the Thursday, without tasting any li-
quor during that time, was likely to melt with his d.atli
from the spirits he had drank previous to his being placed
in irons.

Blr. Grant replied, most certainly not, bat his impr s.ion
at the time was, that the man had recast access to large quan-
tities of spirits.
Mr. BALLANOINIC : If he was without liquor for three
days, would behave died from apoplexy ?
Mr. Grant: No. But his previous habits of excessive
drinking would have predisposed him to I.
Mr. BALIANSDIX referred to the kg..b.mli, which men.
tioncd that the deceased was placid in irons on the 10th. for
drunkenness and disobedience of orders; but on the 11th
and 12th, no mention was made of him. On the 13th, the
log-book says, Found Elliott in a state of apoph xy, and
the surgeon is of opinion that it was brought on by excessive
drinking.
Mr. Grant said he did not write the kg. but he might
have given that opinion to the officers. He heard that a
cask had been broached, but did cot go into the epirit.room
to ascertain that fact.

Buasell was recalled, and said he never heard of a cask
being broached, when the prisoners were 'ought out. In
fact, from the manner in which they were ironed, they could
not have done so.

Captain T. a retired Commander of the Hnnouroble East
India Company's Service, said he was in cammald of the
ship daring the voyage, but was ashore at Canton alien the
' transaction occurred, and could not say any thing boon his
own knowledge. He was absent from the 9th to the 10 h
of January, and when he returned, heard that Elliott hod
been confined in the spirit-room, and had died of apoplexy,
brought on by excessive drinking. The vitit-roum 1,11. A
not the usual place of confinement, and row braid of a
man being confined there at any ethic time. The catty
in the It g.book of the man's death was in the hand• writit:g
of Beveridge, the pu►ser, and was riga' d by the chi, I
officer.

I Roberts and Youlton were questioned if they knew any-
thing of the deceased or his fellow-prisoner ruing at the
spirits during their confinement, and they replied that they
bad no reculfecticm of their having done so.
11.issell said it was impossible the men could have got at
the spirits, as. from the manner in which they were confined,
they could not use their hands.
Mr. BALLANTINZ inquired if sPAllister, the man who
was confined with the deceased, had been found.
Russell replied that he had never seen him since the day
the ship was paid off at the Irdie House, in 1825, and he
was taken away on the pay-day.
Mr. A. Mitchell, a surveyor of the Thames Police, said
he had made every effort to discover 11P Allister, but without
succe-s, as no one knew anything of him, or where he lived.
The third officer was now hi command of an But Irdiaman,
on her voyage to China, and the ether gentleman who had
succatled to the tommard of the ship in which the transac-
tion took place, had lately returned to England, and was then
present.
Mr. BeeLawn* said it would be necessary to have the
medical journal of the surgeon, Dr. Grant, before he could
proceed any further in die investigation, and in the mean time
the officer would no doubt be able to bring forward others of
the crew who witnessed the occurrence, and some of whom
had probably a better recollection of the affair than either of
the witnesses who had been examined.
A Solicitor, who attended on the part of Capt. —, one
of the secured gentlemen, mid his client was exceedingly
anxious for this enquiry to be brought to a close, as he
should be enabled to show the the deceased had not come
unfairly by his death, and he hoped that, under all the cir.
cumstanas, as one side only bad been heard, that the Bench
would prevent the publication of the names of the accused
gentlemen. rho could be materially injured, if their names
transpired while such a charge wu barging over them.
Mr. BALLANTITIF. said he had neither the power nor the
disposition to prevent the publication of anything which
transpired in that,Office ; but as this was only a preliminary
investigation, to ascertain it he should be justified in ordering
the only one of the accused panics who was in England into
custody, or to declare him free from blame, be bad no
doubt the good feeling which characterised the conductors
of the public Journals, would dispose them to omit the
names of the gentlemen charged with having unfairly caused
the death of the seaman, until the investigation was ended-
The parties then retired, aftertuiving revived* order to
hold themselves in readiness to attend again, when celled
upon.
The enquiry excited great interest. *el the Office was
crowded with Captains and Officers in the East Lelia Com-
pany's UMW.

A LOYAL SONn. BY A FIZESII WATER
SA I Loll

' TUNE--4Lram Newland.

! ft e trumpet of fame throughout Albion protium,
Fer the good of each neighbouring nation,
Not John Bull, tore displeased, atimmunities seized,
Is determind on full restoration,

A speedy,—cornitlete Reformation,
By fair and real representation ;
Which. as every one knows, both its friends and its foes,
Have agreed to call Russell's Purgation !
Sad alarm for the squad, who the good things have had,
In reward for each flimsy oration,
Made by jugglers or Jews, Johnny Bull to assume,
And divert from the wished renovation,))
And call it a dire excitation.
Miscall it an infatuation,
Tleant to finish the boast, they could cut up the roast,
Which is spoilt by this woeful purgation.
View the universe round, not a fixture is found,
Bodies all in a state of rotation,
While all Nature, we know, both above and below,
Is refreshed and renewed by mutation
Why then with our highest in station,
This horror at all innovation ?
As if burgh.lords crusty, and other things musty,
Can exist without whole purgation ?
Now each liberal may sing, Live our true Sailor Ring,
To rejoice in our regeneration ;
Founded safe from cash stroke, on our true hearts of oak,
May his tlironehave a lasting foundation
Through each gain our generation,
Depend for its sure preservation
From false friends, open foes, on the fealty of those
Who will bless him for Russell's Purgation. W. I.

VERSES.

grievefor thee, unhappy one !—thy dream bf love Is past,
Over that young and beauteous face its shadows death bath

cast ; -
Thy manl heart's overflowing now in sorrow from thine eye,
For thou has felt the bitter truth that all we love must die.
T mourn not, for the happy dead—her spirit is at rest,
And she has changed an earthly 'home fur mansions of the
blest ;
The sunny light which charm'd us all, to her young heart
was given,
To fit her ere she left our world for fellowship with heaven.
Weep on,
weep on,:bereaved one ! thy tears will soothe thy
grief,
There's healing on the wings of time, 'twill yield thy heart
relief ;
To picture her an angel bright, amid the realms of day,
Still watching o'er thee with such love as only angels may.

LITERATURE AND SCIENCE.

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