Respite Of John Castle.
The Times, 1824-04-01T00:00:00

On inquiry into the auseof therespite of the execution of John Castle, who was convicted some time ago of stabbing and mnaiming Captain Clarke, of the George the Fourth East Indiaman, and ordered to be execated to-morrow, the following facts have been ascettained, which redound very much to the credit of the Governor of N2wgate, by whose efforts alone the life of the convict was saved. Ever since sentence of death was passed on the unfortu- nate man, he has shown the most calm and religious resignation to his fate; and, in the conversations which those who pitied him had wtth him preparatory to the expected departure from this world, he irequently apoke of the great sufferings he had undergone, both betore and since he had made the attack upon his Captain, which brought him to his present wretched condition. He had, he said, been provoked to the violence by the contempt and rigour with i which he had been treated on board - but he declared that bis ob- ject inraising the knife against the (3aptain was not to destroy, but to intimidate. The first provocation ke had received was at Bombay. where he had engaged with the Captain to come to this country in the George tz. Fourth. In ronsequence of the violation of this en- I gagemei.t, he had left rbe ship, but he was apprehended, brougkt back, and put in irons. Ie diseneaged himself fromn the irons, considering himself legally entitled to enter into any other employment than Captain Clarke's, leaned into a boat and rowed ashore. He was again arrested. and recon- ducted to tie ship, where be received twenty-four lashes; after- wards he was charged on the passage with having stolen some spi- rits, which he solemnly declared he had received as a present from the second mate, for having done some trifling jobs for him. A con- sultation took place upon this accusation between the Captain and the other oicers on hoard, and it was determined that the accused should in irons, and afterwards ordered upon deck, t,and all bands were ordered up to witness his deg,radaton. It was, lie said, at that moment that; smarting under .he ignominy and pain of the former punishment,and again stripped to undergo a still more severesentence,for a crime hc had not committed, his fury prevailed overhisreason,andherushedupon the Captain with the knife which he held in his hand. He felt adlditional disgrace at being ordered to be floggedl on Easter Sunday, the Sabbath being a day on which flogging never was inflicted in 'King's ships. Imme- diately after this unfortunate attack, he was put in heavy irons, and remained in them 102 days, both hlands and feet being often ironed together. IHe was also exposed on deck to the desperate heat of the sun for a great part of the time. fed upoii biscuit and water, and his sufferings could, under all the circumstances, be much better con- ceived than expressed. We understand that the Governor, upon hearing a detail of the facts of the case, of which the above is an outline, went or sent, on Fridav last, to the owners of the ship, and obtained the log-book, from which he copied the names of the passengers homeward, with a view of making the most minute mquiries. One of the mates, who has since the return of the shiplett her, stated that the second mate had told him that he had given to Castle the spirits,for stealingwliich the unfortunate man had been ordered to beflogged. Alr.AVorntner immediatelv madeknown the particulars to Lord Stowell, of whose interference in tbe causeof humanity he had seen several strong evidences. The subject was entered upon by his Lordship withi great earnestness and promptitude, and he was informed t hat In addition to the sufferings of Castle already enumerated, was the no very slight infliction of nine months' con- finement in Newgate. His Lordship desired to have as full a con- firmation of the statement ac could be obtained. M1r. Wontner, withlout delay, sent some of his officers to Gosport, where the 24th regiment, which had come from Rombay in the Geo,ge the Fourth, was quartered. Several of tbe officers of the regiment testified to the order for flogging or Easter Sunday, to the order for the appear- ance of the rest of the crew on deck to witness the punishment, to the putting in Irons the hands and feet of the accused, to his being bound down for 102 days, his exposure to the weather, and his being fed on biscuit and water; and they all (both officers and men) agreed that fie was an object of the greatest commiseration. Lord Stowell, upon receiving the necessary confirmation, waited upon Mr. Peel; and Mr. Wontner also waited upon the Secretary with the documents on Tuesday morning. Early in the evening an order to stay the execution was received by Mr. Woritner. without whose ac- tive exertions the man would inevitably have been hanged. It is bet justice to Captain Clarke to statr, that he joined in the applica- tion for mercy. RRSPITE OF JOffN CA.STLE.