The Sun. — 1863-06-17 (London, England)

THE COURT-MARTIAL ON CHARLES THOMAS•  Mr. HADFIELD asked the Secretary to the Admiralty whether his intention had been called to the proceedings of a court-martial held on board her Majesty's ship Victory, at Portsmouth, on Charles Thomas, a seaman, charged with insubordination and using offensive language to a boatswain, who had ordered the liberty-boat to leave before its appointed time, when the prisoner was returning to his ship, after the expiration of his leave of absence to get married ; and if so, whether it was true that, under the circumstances of that case the prisoner was adjudged to be reduced to the second class, to receive forty-eight lashes, to be imprisoned in Winchester Gaol for two years, and then to be discharged with disgrace from her Majesty's navy ; and whether he would lay the proceedings of the court upon he table of the house.  Lord C. PAGET said the hon. member was misinformed with respect to some of the particulars of the case. In the first place, the hon. member was mistaken in his assumption that the sailor Charles Thomas was prevented merely by accident from returning to his ship ; that was not so, for according to the evidence of the other sailors in the boat, they did not quit the shore until the appointed time, and Thomas was not down in time to go on board. However, he afterwards found his way to the ship, and then he showed himself very indignant towards the boatswain in charge of the boat, and used most violent, offensive, disgusting, and insubordinate language towards that officer, and towards the captain of the ship. His offence was so grave that it was naturally thought requisite he should be tried by courtmartial, and accordingly he was so tried. The second inaccuracy of the hon. member was in stating that the prisoner had been on leave of absence to get married. Now, the pri* liar himself set up no such defence ; he stated that he had ,een 0 on shore to see his brother, and had got intoxicated. But the evidence of the other sailors was that he was sober when _ '" melee use of the very gross language charged correet7ate,„ sentence of the court-martial, it had been g, Rear, be:::;. by the hon. member. (Ironical cries of like individuals Reims bound to say that courts-martial, criesof Rear:v.7_7.e occasionally liable to err—(ironical leniency, and 60702 —sometimes erring on the side of (Hear, hear.) At urea "ling on the side of severity. courts-martial came and% laraer time, the proceedings of all and it not =frequently happenecii4e revision of the Admiralty, able to exercise the blamed pri,,,,...tbete the Admiralty were tigate the sentences upon inii,o7eni; and :3:1 iheartiercyit, rivdeartoedratoi,, them sentences were too harsh the present case the Admiralty would bheavaeno doubt that in of exercising their mitigatory privilege. gi...the°l,Portunity he believed the house would agree with InEn—durtr.) But arrangement the Admiralty might make, t' Whatever gation of the sentence might be enforced, it s 1 _6Z mica_l. be clearly understood that that mitigation was not the result of the interference of that house. For it certainly would not conduce to the discipline of the navy if that house were turned into a court of appeal from decisions of courts-mar_ tial. (Hear, hear.) Such being the circumstances of the case, he hoped the hon. member would not press for a production of the proceedings ; and the more especially as, under the Naval Discipline Act, the prisoner would be entitled, after an interval of three months, to a copy of the sentence and the proceedings of the court. Mr. HADFIEL D expressed a hope that some means would be devised for preventing the publication of such Inaccurate statements. Lord C. PAGET said he sincerely wished he could prevent misrepresentations of the kind appearing in newspapers ; and, as he was on the subject, he might observe, in reply to a question put to him by the right hon. member for Kilmarnock (Mr. Bouverie), that there was not the ' slightest foundation for a statement which had appeared the other day in the papers relative to a sailor having been ordered to prison for three years, and as having committed suicide in consequence. The only suggestion he had to offer