Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1843-01-26
TnE SonERs ArFAIR.-Thc inquiry has

h"' "4ieaO N'p P"oleh'N' M '' io'h
day Con. Machsuzie prescn,cd the following
paper:
Y May il pleo-t Me Court: Although il hns
been determined by the Coufi That written
defence OF my conduct. founded on al cx
aminniion 81 The evidence that has been ad-
dnced, Is unnecessary, aud. under the circdln-
Il Stances. insdinissiblc, ] trust that the Court
will not refuse tu receive from me u bret
/ sisteineht ot the reasons that produced thu
conviction ~ my mind, on which ] acted, thai
the execution 0i the ringlenders Oi The inten.
dcd mn,'ny on hoard lhe Somers was ncces-
Il sagY To the prcscrvution Of the vessel. u is
True that these rcas"ns may be collected from
my report TO The SECRETARY of the Navy.
which hus been read before the Court bu,
they nre no where stated in connrction, nor
with that dlsilnctness und brevny that nre
necessary To Impress their force on the minds
Of others. My report To the Secretary was
intended To be a full history Of all the rro-
ceedings on bosrd the Son,ers, Tor his iuior-
nation alone, aud was far. very tar iron be
ing framed with any direct view 10 my own
ylndcatlop.
n ! psocced, then, under tho permission Of
the Coui,, Ia submit the following facts nnd
considerations ns the reasons that chiefly de-.
itermiu-d my conduct. How Tar their reality
or sufficIehcy Is established BY the evidence.
are questions thai. without u singl" remark,
| shall euvc 70 The Judgment OF the Court
II FIRST, ] was Influenced by my deep con.
vlctiop pf the reality of the plo, disclosed By
Mr.. SpeIxcr Ia Mr.. Wales. Although ! re.
cciv.d the first communication with incrcdu.
lily, yet when ] retrcird upon the earnest
and snlemp manner in winch the disclosure
was made, and the strong impression of the
danger made upon tho mind of Mr. Wales
himself nv doubts vanished and nv mind
wa, filled Win th. most ra,n.st soIicuuJc To-
discover ard adopt the proper means for NJ
resting the horror, with which we were
Threatened. II, once determined 10 adopt
no urnsute bu, after mature d.l,brrntion, To
shrink from nom, thu, the preservation of the
il,v,s of ,ho.e entrusted IA NV cn,.. the homer
,f nv country uud nv sense of du,y should
demand WI, the, ,h,, Influence of ,his dc.
is mn, spuar.n, IN MI nv subsc-
,u.,, ,c,, s,,bm, Ia I'M. ;udgment oI the
rou,, b.l,,,J Then IN IN. exi.,,uce of
,L, in which nv ,h. dccl,,,,i,, of Mr.
Sn,rc.r n, lens, twenty ,r ,b. crew were
couccrnrd--Th. nn,"r. oi ,bis pl.,. involving
the uurJc, ,I tho officers and n lnrvc norton
III ,L. c,.x and ,I, cnm,n,ssion of ol,,o.,
c,e,v GRIM. c,nv;,ceJ IN, ,b., ,bnse WIN
had agreed !, !, were cap,ble ofcurryinp il
,n,o erccn,,ou ,nd committing any .troc,,v
Thi. ,,piui,n wu, further confirmed BIZ my
prcyious kuowl,dy. Of tho CHARACTER Of ,b;,
c,cw aud hy ,I,. lac, ,L,, n.ov ,,f ,h.o,. al
,bo,yh ,,,,, ~ .,,rny,h aud ,;,c wc,c s,,ll
how. in aoe and cors,ou.n,lv wouId he lr,,l,.
hk.lv 4, ,,.;., ,.,,,,n,,,, n,d ,,,c c,.il,
nllur.d bv IN. Measure. held On, I, ,bsm NJ
accountants ,uv rho hie of n n,,.,. II,viry
s,.,cJ ,hc ,..s,n. which n,nduc,J IN. con.
v,ction in INV mind of The existence of the
ol,, !, o,Jv r, uains far mo I'm stat. thos,
which induced me TO change my original de.
,e,min,,i,o In hiring I'M. p,i.oncr. ,o the
Tinted States for trial. and To- deem their i'm
mediate c,.cu,,on NECESSARY.
wns siuf,u.nced-Fir.,.b by The in.ubordi-
p.,;.,o of The crew ,nuu,..s,ed after we had
l.(, the coa., of Africa, and very much im
cr.u.-d ni,er the arres, OF the prisoners their
elm,ay and angry looks, their secret con.
i.reuces, b,oh N ri when an olFiccr appeared :;
their i.cr.s..c reluctance ~ the performance
of their duty the actual disobedience OF
some the s,irmpt of several to communicate
with the nri.oprrs. An these c,yc;j;ns,ance.
convinced me- lhsi there was danger Of res
cue. and ,hu, nj, scbcm. was IN constan, orl-
i,s,ion.
Secondly. by the uncertainty under which
We IsSord ~, 10 the cxren, Of the mu,lny
nn,l the iuu,i,i,y md danger of sl,cnp,iny 10
nscef,nin. by nm examination Of the crew,
how many were 10 be relied on. Let us sup.
pose ,hn, The whole crew had bccn examined,
pna nil had protested their innocence ard ic
noyancc: Could we have believed and ,rns-
ted them, Would the uncertainty have been
removed nr diminished? /? On the contrary,
must not the universal den'o' have Increased
and justified our suspicious of UNIVERSAL gum!
We must still have believed that many were
guilty, aud coqlH nat have known, that any
were innocrgt. II the 'xaiDination had re-
suited ~ the discovery oi tue ccrla'n gulIi oi
many of The suspected, our difficulties would
have been s''ll greater. To confne and
guard them was impossible. To leave them
st large, with knowledge that their guIli
was known, aud that, if'hey arrived 10 safety,
death might be their do"'n. was I" render
them despcTqie and an outbreak lnevnsble.
Thirdly. by the exhaustion ct the officers.
snd by the impossbllity that they conld much
longer sustain the fatigue 10 winch they
we're subpcied; and by the TACT that, from
loss OF res, and continual exrr'l"n, we were
daily losing strength, whilst that of The mu