Connecticut western news., 1873-04-18
SALISBURY, CONN.,, FRIDAY APRIL 18 1873
The " SOmers 5 Trag edY.

operate on the public mind, it is amaz- ing that the perpetrator of that great crime should have been permitted to escape the severest penalty of the law. The exercise of authority, and hanging of his three victims, were slurred over by the Government, through the in- fuence of Mackenzie's powerful COT nec- tions. It so happened that was made acquainted with the particulars of the how the criminal escaped the conse- quence of his high-handed proceeding.
 The vengeance of the Almighty has rarely been more signally manifested than in the fate of all concerned in this fearful tragedy. The Somers lies at the the bottom bo of the Gulf :; Mackenzie died suddenly of disease of the heart the surgeons mate, who sat on the court-martial which condemned the poor fellows to death, drowned himself in fit of delirium tremens; and another member of the court perished in 8 paroxysm of insanity.
 The alleged mutiny on the Somers was made public at Washington under circumstances tending to increase the natural horror consequent upon such transaction, without precedent in the annals of the country. On the arrival of the vessel at New York Lieutenant Gansevoort, her executive officer, was dispatched to Washington, bearing a sealed report to the Secretary of the Navy. He reached there on Sunday, and his awful intelligence was not made public until the following day. The city was filled with startling rumors, and President Tyler without mentioning the nature of the affair intimated that something terrible would soon be re- vealed. Gansevoort disclosed no par ticulars, but his obscure givings out created general and profound conster- nation. On Monday the official paper of the government published the official account of the mutiny, and the execu- ton of Midshipman Spencer and two cer, the father of the young man, then whelmed with grief and horror. The news came upon him suddenly, without premonition. He was tender and de- voted father. His son, peculiar and perhaps wayward lad, was his favorite child. He was full of genius, not un- amiable in disposition, fond of study, and addicted to curious speculation shy, reserved, and given to solitary musing. The story of the mutiny and the nefarious designs charged upon young Spencer was unsupported by any evidence that would have carried con- viction to the mind of 8 competent tribunal. Mackenzie attempted to palliate his guilt by the declaration that the execution of the young man was ordered for the reason that the influence of his father would have screened him from punishmentif he had been brought l home for trial. In other words, he had hung Spencer and his associates because of his apprehension that they would be acquitted if tried by court having au- thority to take cognizance of the charge.
 The trial of Mackenzie by court-mar- tial was nothing but 8 solemn farce. It having been determined by the Navy Department, under the influence of Commodore Perry and his associate honor of the service required not only the acquittal of the chief criminal and his subordinates, but the formal ap- proval of their cruel and atrocious con- duct, it only remained to shape the court and conform it's decision accordingly. 1 There was circumstance known to the commanding officer of the receiving ship Hudson which, if brought to the public knowledge, would have made the acquittal difficult, if not impossible. When the Somers arrived at New York she was anchored in the lower bay, communication with the shore being strictly prohibited. Mackenzie visited the Navy-yard, reporting his arrival to the commanding officer. Hethen called upon Captain Peck, in command of the Hudson. Peck and himself were of the same grade in the service, and they were on terms of familiar intimacy, having been messmates on former cruise. Mackenzie gave his friend his version of the Somers affair, horrifying him with the statement of the mutiny and the hanging of Midshipman Spencer and two confederates in the crime. Peck naturally inquired how many of the mutineers were in irons on board the vessel, and expressed his surprise that she had not been brought up to the yard. Mackenzie replied that the mu- tinous crew were none of them under arrest; thathe had been able to subdue tion it had not been found necessary to confne any of the men. "What," ex- claimed Peck, Ca mutiny so extensive and formidable as to justify hanging an officer and two of his associates, and nobody in irons p Mackenzie returned immediately on board the Somers, and seizing upon the first dozen of the men upon whom he could lay his hands, clapped them in irons. The fact never came to the knowledge of the court, and it was carefully suppressed in the published accouts of the transaction. President Tyler, 8 warm-hearted and sympathetic man, approaching the feel ings of MT. Spencer and his family, and anxious to alleviate their sufferings so far as lay in his power, commissioned gentleman in his confidence to tender the secretary the place of minister to Russia. It seemed to MT. Tyler the most suitable mode of relieving the be- reaved father and his family to give him the opportunity of leaving position where every thing tended to keep alive and exasperate their misery. A change of scene he thought calculating to blunt the edge of their sufferings, and divert their minds from the contemplating of cruel and atrocious crime of which the son of their hopes had been made the victim.
 MT. Spencer expressed his gratitude for the kindness of the President in warm terms, and requested his agent to make his acknowledgements for the thoughtful consideration which had prompted the offer, and to say that he would prepare to depart on his mission at the earliest possible moment.
 A week or more elapsed without the President hearing from MT. Spencer. He remained in his house, excluding himself from all society. MT. Tyler then directed his agent to call again upon the secretary and ascertain his in- tentions. Meantime a change had taken place in his feelings. fndigna- tion and resentment had so far taken possession of him that he had determ- ined not to leave the country. He would remain in the cabinet for the