The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-01-18

II hau now Dpcn twenty -lour nouTS sihSe 'H'
arrest of SPENCER, and there had been not only
no attempt at rescue, but nothing TO excite sus-
picion except the looks of SMALL and GROIN
WELL. But an event occurred that evening 10
rouse the terrors of the Commander into fear
full activity. The wind, which had been hlgh'
had moderated. Sky-sails and royal studdlhg-
sails were set The Commander says, IN
going large, he had always been very
particular to have no strain upon the hSh'
braces leading forward, rs the tendency ol
+ sucb ;s 10 carry away the light yards and
masts An apprentice, named GAGELEY' was
on the main royal yard after setting the main
sky-sail. A sudden jerk of the weather main
royal brace, given by SMALL, and another whose
name was not discovered (or he, too, no doubt,
would have been hung, carried the top-gallant
mast away in the shceve, sending forward the
royal mast with royal sky-sail, royal studalhg
sail, main top gallant sky sail and the heaa OF
the gaff- top sail. GAGEIE EY was on the royai
yard. The Commander scarcely dared look
about him for fear he should see his mutllated
body But he oycrcame the difficulty OF MS
situation most gallantly, and got down safely.
The Commander did not dream OF treachery
at the time, nor ought he to have so dreamed,
for, according 10 the best evidence, the eXecu-
ton of the order he had himself given 10 set
the sky sails while the ship was going large,
under press of sail, with favorable wind,
was inevitably calculated 10 produce the
catastrophe. JAMES FENSIMoRE COOPER, the
novelist and writer of our naval history,
himself Il retired naval officer, tells us this,
and Captain SrrRGIss, one of the best
nayigators Boston ever produced, con-
firms the opinion. But the order which he
gave, rs detailed above, was not given to the
men. 1t was delivered TO Midshipman o. II.
PERRY, who misunders TODD it, and gave Il very
different order, as was proved by his own teSti-
mony at the trial, and one which was sure 10
have the effect already witnessed. MACKES-
zIEs ;order TO PERRY was TO have Il small pull
on one brace. PERRY ordered the men TO haul,
that is, TO pull hard, on another. PERRY was
called up and reprimanded on the spot by the
Commander. He therefore knew how the acc-
dent occurred and had no ground for suspect
ing plot. Yet he says in his report that,
TO his astonishment," the very men who had
been named in the razor case We're the first 10
come forward to the mast head (to help GAGE
LEf) whether" adds he, "animated by n
zeal for the service of their country, or
collected there for the purpose Of conspiring,
it is difficult TO say. The coincidence con-
tirmcd the existence OF a dangerous conspi-
'tracy, suspended, yet not abandoned The
very zeal Of the men in discharge of their duty
is thus turned into evidence against them.
What more natural than for them 10 run for
ward on seeing the terrible situation of GAGE
LEYY
1t was proved on the trial that the majority
of the men who ran forward were not named
in the razor case paper. But the terrors OF
the Commander were so great that he sus-
pected everything. SPENCER, naturally
enough, looked towards the mast, where
young GAGELEY was suspended in imminent
peril. Who would not have done soY The
Commander drew fresh suspicious from the
circumstance. "The eye of Mr.. SPENCER, he
says, travelled pcrpetually TO the masthead
and cast thithcr many of those strange and
stealthy glances which l had before no
ticed." On the trial it was proved by the
evidence of Midshipman HAYS that SPENCER
fixed u steady g02e upon the masthead and kept
ii there, and HAYS was one of MACKESzIE's
own witnesses. The log book, be it observed,
makes no mention of this rush to the mast
head, nor is there any intimation of design
to carry away this mast. 1t seems TO have
been altogether an aftcrthought. From the
time WALES gave his information 10 the time
of the executions everything the suspected did
was proof against them. If they went briskly
10 their work it was 4 sign of guilt. If they
went slowly, it was equally sign of guilt.
GCOSCLUDED TO- MORROW