The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-03-09 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD, TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 1852.

If they had done so, I should have struck them. I don't
know that two or three jumped over board in consequence
of my chasing them. I have known Captain Mors more
than twelve months in this vessel. She generally carries
27 or 28 men. She generally goes two or three hands
shorter from New York • her complement from Liverpool
is 28, including the ordinary seamen. We should have
sailed that day in the evening, if we had got cleared. The
men would of course have to work harder if the vessel
went out with only 20 men.
By Mr. t•jrzown(Lt,.—As soon as the passengers were
passed and crew were found all right, we intended to go to
sea directly. I did not. think it possible to have reduced
the men to obedience without the use of the cutlasses. I
think the captain was in considerable danger.
David Navin, second mate, corroborated the preceding
evidence in its main features, adding, that whed he came
on the deck, he found the captain on the deck and the
men beating him, and he himself was struck by Fowler a
severe blow on the head with a belaying pin ; and when
putting the men in irons, he was cut dangerously on the
arm with a knife.
By Mr. ASPINALL.—The pistol was snapped close to
my ear, but I heard no report whatever. When the men
struggled with the captain for the pistol, I thought his life
in great danger.
Charles Balherney, the third mate, stated that he was
called up from between decks ; ho found the captain
down, bleeding very much, and the men upon him. He
endeavoured to rescue him, and was struck twice on the
face with some heavy weapons which stretched him sense-
less on the deck.
Thomas Jones, a lad from Manchester, said—l came
here to look for a ship and to see a friend off by the
Queen of the West, and was there all night. After con-
firming the previous testimony as to the origin of the
affray, the wi;ness added—Freeman said he would not do
any more work without breakfast, or go to sea without 30
men. The captain told them to do something and then
go down and get their breakfast. Freeman still refused,
and the captain seized him by the collar and told him to
come aft. On this, Fri er,an struck the captain a violent
blow on the face, and he was then knocked down by the
crew, and beaten by the men with marling spikes and
belaying pins. The captain got up, bleeding very much
from the face, and then went aft and fetched the pistol.
Whilst away, the men sang our to the officers, " Come
forward and we will show you some Yankee touches."
The captain went forward to take Freeman aft, and
snapped the pistol, but it missed ; it was wrested from him
and thrown overboard.
Mr. Patrick Kelly, surgeon, Liverpool, who had at-
tended Captain Mors since Saturday, said he had received
several contr.sed wounds on the top of the head ; the
skull was laid bare, and the htemorrhage had been very
great. He had not examined it the skull was fractured.
The wounds seemed to have been inflicted by a blunt in-
strument.

John Murphy, one of the passengers, who saw the dis-

turbance from the beginning to the on the Saturday,
said he heard the pistol click twice, as if it had been
snapped once, and then drawn back again. He afterwards
saw the men beating the captain and third mate, who
were lying on the deck, with belaying pins. The first
mate then came out of the wheelhouse with an old rusty
straight sword, which the captain took from him, and
slashed away at the crew, overtaking and beating one of
the men, who had his arms tied, and was knocked down
with it on the head, and also at the same time kicking
him. The first, mate afterwards came out of the wheel-
house, with a bright cutlass, and chased the crew round
the deck, cutting several. Downs was tied ep and flog-
ged, and when he had received eighteen lashes, the first
mite interposed ; hut the captain gave him two or three
lashes more, and the man, when cast off, fell on the
deck, as if from exhaustion. He also added, that one of
the crew had his arm ni arly severed, just below the elbow
joint, by a cutlass blow; hut by whom given he could not
say. This man is still in the Northern Hospital.
Carlisle, one of the Liverpool police, who apprehended
the prisoners, stated that he found knives on several of
of them. As Freeman was leaving the boat, he took a
knife about three inrhes long from him ; he had it open
in his hand, and when asked what be meant to do with it,
he replied, "To throw it into the river, and I am sorry I
did not put it into the captain's body."
By Mr. ASPINALL.—The men were most of them very
much cut about, and looked much abused ; but there was
more blood from the officers. There are two men now
in the hospital—Peter Moreton and Thomas Ryan—se-
verely hurt by cutlass wounds on the arms and scalp, and
unable to attend.

Mr. SNOWBALL here mentioned to the court that he
had still many witnesses whom he could call, if it were
deemed necessary, but he really did not know what more
information they could give the court.
Mr. A setNALL intimated that be had several witnesses
to examine; and it would he desirable, if Mr. Snowball
had any more passengers to call, that be should produce
them, as it would materially affect any remarks he had to
offer on that part of the case.
The COURT left it entirely to Mr. Snowball's discretion.
John Mqiiernan, a passenger, attributed the origin of
the disturbance to Freeman striking the captain ; but
another passenger, Thomas Murray, on being asked,
stated that the captain knocked Freeman down ; and
Mr. Snowball declined to call as a witness a man he did
not believe.

Sir E. CUST called attention to the fact that there was
no evidence at present except against Freeman, Jack,
Trayner, Downs, and Fowler; and Mr. ASPINALL then
applied for the discharge of the others, that they might
give evidence in favour of his clients, but the application
was refused.

Patrick Martin, the assistant to the shipping-master,
Mr. Barnett, identified all the men but Brown and Pen-
rie as 1/211/1111.: been on board on the morning in question.
Ho added that he had engaged many of the men himself;
they had not been on board more than an hour and a half
before the mutiny took place, and the men as well as the
captain were all sober. The crew had only brought on
board with them one chest and a bag of clothes, and had,
he believed, received their advance tickets. The comple-
ment of the Queen of the West for this and the last
voyage was 28. but before she had only 22 or 24 men. It
was also stated that the government agent would not have
the ship without the full complement of men being on
board. Superintendent Ride, in reply to the court, said
he took all the prisoners from the ship.

THE DEFENCE

Mr. ASPINALL thenaddres:eCitliecourt at considerable
length for the defendants. He commented in very severe
terms on what he termed the tyrannical and brutal con-
duct of the captain, and staked his character as a lawyer
on the assertion that if the men had even been guilty of
the grossest mutiny, and the captain, after he had once
escaped from the crew, the mutiny being over, had shot
any one. he would most unquestionably have been guilty
of murder. And if that were so, then, having fired his
revolving-pistol twice, three barrels of which were loaded,
but fortunately missed fire, he was to all intents and pur-
poses liable to an indictment for murder, or at least the
intent to do grievous bodily harm. He urged that the
fact of the crew having thrown the pistol overboard when
they had taken it from their assailant, showed plainly, as
did the whole of the circumstances from first to last, that
the men had no other intention than that of defending
themselves against the tyranny of their master. The
conduct of the officers, too, and captain afterwards, in
cutting the defenceless crew with their cutlasses, also de-
monstrated that they did not desire to quell the mutiny,if
any existed, but to wreak their vengeance for some injury,
real or imaginary, they supposed had been done to them ;
and for this brutal attack, by which one man's arm was
nearly severed; they were deserving of marked punish-
ment. Having commented on the mode in which the
prosecution had been got up by the Liverpool police—a
force which had of late distinguished itself so much for its
morality and propriety, and integrity of conduct, he com-
plained that Lieut. Prior, the government agent. had
not been put into the box, and concluded by repeating his
application that the charge should be sent to the assizes,
and determined under the superintendence of one of the
judges.

- Thomas Murray, the witness whom Mr. Snowball de-
clined to examine, was first called, and attributed the
blame to the captain.

William York, one of the seamen on board the vessel,
thus described the affair :—I joined the Queen of the
West on Saturday morning last, about halt'-uast ten or
eleven o'clock. After the ship bad been br(;uaht to an
anchor, the captain came on hoard and asked how many
men were mustered ? The shipping-master said twenty,
and was then ordered to go ashore and bring him six
more. Freeman then observed to the crew "he thought
there were to be thirty men, and he should like to see
them on board before they set to ;" adding, " now is the
time to speak about it while the ship is in port, and not
when the ship has gone to sea." Several of the crew
replied—" Yes eam rha A rt—
remarks, the crew went forward to the forecastle, and the
captain followed. The mate gave some orders to Free-
man, who said he should like to have breakfast before
he turned to ; on which the captain went up to him,
seized him by the throat, threw him on the deck,
and kicked him when down. The crew pulled the
captain, who appeared to be a hit frightened, away ;
and he then took up a belaying pin, struck at the
men on all sides, at the same time calling them names.
The mates then came and assisted the captain, using
handspikes. The captain was got down again by the crew,
and begged a second time to be let up. He was let up
and went aft, none of the crew following him abaft the
foremast. He then returned with a revolving pistol, col-
lared Freeman, and ordered him aft, but he would not go,
pointing the pistol to his head all the time. The rest of
the crew were standing round, all the time, to protect
Freeman, and made a rush at the captain, seeing the
dangerous weapon in his hand. The captain pulled the
trigger, the cock went down, and the men took the pistol
and threw it overboard. 1 heard the report of a pistol,
however, before it was wrested from the captain. The
chief mate then gave the captain a cutlass, and bad
another himself, and at once cut about at the crew, part
of whom made their escape into the steam-tug, and the
others ran away. One man was trying to get away by
the gangway, when the chief mate cut him below the
elbow, and nearly severed: his arm ; afier which both
the captain and mate kicked him, handcuffed him, drag-
ged him aft, and ill-used him until he fainted : the name
of this man is John Moreton, and he is now in the hospital.
Downs was dragged violently aft, and kicked and cuffed
by the captain and mates. The captain then ordered him
to be seized in the mizen-rigging ; his shirt was stripped
up as far as it could be ; the man took a new rope, an inch
in diameter, commonly called a three-inch rope, and cut
him with it several lashes as though it was a ferocious
tiger he had a spite against,—the second and third mate
standing over him with cutlasses, lest the crew might
interfere. The police came along side as they were look-
ing for another man to punish, and the crew threw
selves on their protection, afraid of their li‘es, and wialt-
ing to get away from the ship.