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Leader (1850-1860), 17th December 1859, Edition 1 of 2, Page 1362, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      Nelson , in No . 3 dock , is nearly completed in her conversion from a sailing three-decker to a twodecked screw steamship . The Medea , 6 , paddle , and the Bulldog , 6 , paddle , in the adjoining docksthe latter nearly finished—will be almost rebuilt by the time they are completed , employing a number of hands and absorbing a large quantity of materials . A correspondent of a contemporary writes on the subject of the mutiny on board the Princess Royal : — " Two facts in the history of England , temp . Viet ., 1859 , are indisputable ; viz ., first , our ships are daily bringing home from India hundreds of men ¦ who have " lfterallv set themselves in battle array

      against tihoir officers , who , instead of punishment , are receiving considerable sums of money as bounty at your expense and mine , and who , moreover , are greedily snapped up by recruiting sergeants to join the Queen ' s service ; and , secondly , that 108 sailors , who have been tried in a batch , and Lave received sentence in a manner much resembling the sentence on a litter of puppies pre-condemned to the . horse-pond , without reference to individual merit , are spending their Christmas in Winchester eaol . " The writer proceeds to show , from the letters of the prisoners , the probability that a large proportion of these men were quite innocent of participating in the disturbance , and

      proceeds : — " Perhaps some sceptic may remark' Oh ! this is a very pretty story , but why did not all this come out on the court-martial ? ' The answer is , ' Sailors are just like schoolboys . ; ' and if such sceptic will go to Winchester College , which is ' within a mile of the gaol , the authorities will tell him that when twenty or thirty boys are in a scrape the innocent , prefer suffering with the guilty to turning against their companions ; . such , at any rate , was the case in my time . In the name of justice all England has aroused to reverse the . sentence of Smetlvurst , a man who had forfeited the sympathies of the world . Is there no one with power , money , and influence who will advocate the reversal of the sentence on these hundred

      and eight men ? If there be-such a one , and he has not the will , let not that man join in the prayers of the Church for all prisoners and captives . To suggest a practical remedy for the punishment of the mutinous conduct of the crew , let me suggest that the 108 men . foe mustered , and'let the offer be made that on three men . confessing themselves guilty the rest shall be pardoned and discharged before Christmas-day . If more than three step out as guilty men , let them draw lots for the pardon . Justice will be satisfied , without the hetacomb which has been made . The fact of 108 men "being condemned in a lump , in an offhand court-martial , may be a good story to tell to the Marines , but is a proof that a court-martial is not a court of justice .

      Untitled Article

      VOLUNTEER CORPS . The enthusiasm in this movement appears to be on the increase , several new corps having been set on foot this week . Among other places where this has been the case , we fipd mention made of Plumetead , Wiveliscombe , Idle , Wigton , Camelford , Burlington , West Bromwich , Torquay , Itugeley , Wells , Fareham , Worthing , Chirnside , Aytoun , Wickham Market , Abingdon , Blything , and Northfleet . In the metropolis also there are signs of increase . T he movement in tho St . Giles's and Bloortisbury parishes is proceeding favourably , and arrangements will be made for drilling as soon as a sufficient number of volunteers have enrolled themselves . — A . n influential meeting of the Bermondsey "Volunteer Rifle Corps was held in tho St . James ' s schools on Tuesday evening—41 r . W . Darnell , churchwarden , in tho chair—for the purpose of nominating gentlemen as officers . Two companies of GO each nominated their officers , which , with the names of the members , has been forwarded to the Lord-Lieutenant for approval , The third company ia also nearly formed , and it is fully expected that this corps will in a short time number at least 500 effectives . Upwards of £ 300 has already boon subscribed . A communication has been received by the Secretary of tho London Irish Volunteers , from Lord Qough , signifying his Lordship ' s intention of joining tho council , and co-operating for the general welfare of the movement . The same communication brought the sad intelligence that his Lordship had been unable to give an earlier intimation of hie friendly support to the movement owing to his having mot with " a clangorous fall and boing completely laid up . " It has been , reaolved by tho Edinburgh University to constitute a second company , the enrolment having reached above 120 , and Professor Christisoh has been . olcoted captain of tho second company . J ? h » a vrUlwmke tho 17 th company of tho Edinburgh regiment , woe * of which are at present near the maxnnum complement .

      The value of working men ' s services is beginning to be appreciated as it ought to be , and artisans are beginning to mix in the ranks with those of higher social standing . At Birmingham , the Mayor , Sir John RatclifTe , Messrs . Charles Shaw . Messrs . Dixon , and Other firms in the town , agreed to equip twenty men eacTi ; and other gentlemen and firms put down their names for the equipment of numbers of men rangingTrom two to fifteen . —The services of a 4 th Sheffield company , have been accepted by her Majestv , and the appointments of Mr . John Brown as captain , Mr . J . 1 L . Waterfall as lieutenant , and Mr . J . D . Ellis as ensign have boon ^ approved . This company , which numbers upwards of 100 men ,

      is formed entirely from the persons employed at the steel and spring works of Messrs John Brown and Co . —At Woolwich Arsenal , upwards of 500 workmen have entered their names as members of the Volunteer Rifle Corps , established under the auspices of Colonel Tulloh and other officers of the establishment . Auy artisan is eligible to enter the corps and pay the entrance fee and expenses of outfit by weekly instalments . —At a meeting of the Queen ' s Volunteer Corps , a working man , Mr . Simes , made some sensible observations . He said , great as his respect was for the aristocracy , he should be sorry to join a rifle corps which was not conducted in the most economical manner . He took that meeting to be a recruiting party ; but what he had to say was , that a corps composed of noblemen

      and gentlemen was not the one he should join . He should like to know the cost of joining this particular corps . He might be able to stand halfra-guinea . He knew there were plenty of young men of his own class ready to join this movement , who had as great an interest , in the-country as the chairman himself had . He . himself had ¦ as great an interest in his little home , whether it consisted only of a kitchen or a garret , as a man had in his who lived in G-rosvenor-square , and he : felt it was his duty to stand np to protect that home . For those reasons he had not yet made up his mind what corps to join . He wanted to see these rifle corps made up . of the bone and sinew of the country , and not of men like some in the Crimea , who , as" soon as they saw smoke , wanted to go home " on urgent private affairs . "

      In consequence of numerous applications to the War-office for advice as to the proper uniform for volunteer corps , 8 cc , in course of formation , a committee has been appointed and is about to assemble at the War-office , Pall-mall , to consider the question of rifle volunteer uniforms , and to report to the Secretary of State for War upon the colour and pattern which shall be recommended as the most appropriate for general adoption by those volunteer rifle corps who have not yet selected their uniform . When decided upon , a sealed patternof the , clothing so recommended will be deposited with the Volunteer Branch , War-office , Pall-mall , for general guidance in this matter .

      Mr . Denison , the chairman of the Great Northern Railway Company , has sent a letter to Mr . Hoare , the secretary of the Railway Rifle Corps , expressing a wish that the employ es of several railway companies should be united in one strong rifle brigade . He says : — "If an invasion should be accomplished , the possession of a railway and its terminus would be of immense advantage to whichever party might possess it , and a desperate struggle would undoubtedly take place for it . Who , then , are the men that could be so properly expected and reasonably called upon to defend tho terminus and tho rolling stock of a railway as the officers and men belonging to any particular company ? Self-defence is admitted to bo

      one of our first duties , so is it of corporate bodies as well as of kingdoms . Well , then , I think that every reasonable encouragement ought to be given by the directors and by the shareholders of the Great Northern Railway Company to the officers and men in that service to volunteer to form part of a riflo corps ; but as I doubt whether their numbOrs would be sufficient to form a regiment of 1 , 000 men , I think the whole subject ought to bo discussed among the leading mon of , at least , four or five railway companies , whose termini are on the north side of tho Thames . "

      Untitled Article

      LAW , POLICE , AND CASUALTIES . Sir Hbnrv Sinoisr Kisating , tho Solicltor-General , has been appointed to tho puisne judgeship of tho Common Pleaa , vacant by the doath of Mr . Justice Crowd or . Tho judgment dolivored by Sir Cresswell Crosswell in tho case pf Yolverton v . Yoivorton , on Wednesday last , will not , it is said , have the effect of terminating those extraordinary proceedings . Major Yoivorton having established an Irish domicile for himself and wife , Mrs . Yolverton ' s friends haro decided on taking immediate steps in the Irish courts of law to establish tho validity of her marriage and for this purpose have retained tho services of tho Attorney-General for Ireland . Tho inquiry into tho late frauds on the City of

      London Union , has been resumed before Mr . Farnell the assistant Poor-law commissioner , at the City of London Union Office , in St . Mary-axe , for the purpose of hearing the claims . preferred against the union by tradesmen , treasurers of parishes , &e . Several legal gentle men . appeared on behalf of the different parties ' . lividence was given respecting claims and accounts , after which the court was closed , and the inspector announced that he would , forthwith , make his report to the Poor Law Board .

      • At the Court ot-. bankruptcy a dividend has been ordered to be declared under the failure of . Joseph Moses , metal dealer , in Iloundsditeh , who it is stated absconded some time since with large and valuable cargoes of goods obtained from his creditors is iiow in Melbourne , and has been proclaimed an outlaw ' Another lengthened inquiry , now goin ^ oii at the Court of Common Pleas , arises ! for an action brought by Mr . 11 . B . Oakley aj / airist Malim-nined Mussehood-Deen , the ambassador of the King of Oude , ou a bill of exchange for . £ 6 , f > 00 .

      On Thursday the Ecclesiastical Commission appointed by the Bishop of London to inquire into the extraordinary case against the Eev . J . Uonwell , incumbent of St . Philip's , was opened in the Common Hall , Doctor' Commons , the Commissioners being Dr . Travers Tvriss , Chancellor , of the Diocese ; the Ven . Archdeacon Hale ; the Kev . Canon Dale , M . A .., vicar of St . ,-Pancras ; the Rev . W . G . Humphrey , 13 . D ., vicar of St . Martin-in-thu-FiuMs ; mid the Rev . J . K . Kempe , M . A ., rector of . Si :. James's , Westminster . A number of witnesses wore

      examined at great length ; the charge agiunst the rev . delinquent is that of having seduced and promised marriage to a young lady . who afterwards jr . ivu birth to a child . The infant died" on the" twelfth day , and was secretly buried . During the time that he was carrying oil this business he was already married , his wife keeping a ladies' school in Islington ' . - . ¦ ¦ ¦ ' . ¦ William Shirtclifle , lately carrying on business in Cast legate , Nottingham , as a lace miinuiaeturer and

      commission agent , has been committed-for trial , charged with having , on the 1 st of . March-,. 1859 , feloniously uttered a forged promissory note , lbr-the payment of £ 144 , with intent to defraud , knowing the same to be forged against thu form-of the statute in such case made and provided . There are , it is stated , no less than thirteen other cases ! t n r ainst the prisoner , involving charges of fraud and forgery upon the London Monetary Advance and Life Assurance Company to the amount of about . £ 1 , 1 ) 00 .

      The December ; session of the Central Criminal Court was opened this week , when the grand jury threw out the bill preferred against James Powers , committed for a rape on Hannah Por ' civ-al . —On the application of Mr . Poland , the trial of Hughes , the solicitor , was again postponed until the January session . —Robert Hastings , letter currier , pleaded guilty to two indictments , charging him with stealing letters containing money . It appears that he had

      carried on this practice to a groat extent , and lie was sentenced to four years' penal servitude . —Mr . Sleigh applied to the Court to remit the fine of a gentleman for nonr-attendance as a juror last session , on the ground of his being a . dentist , and consequently a member of the medical profession , and on the furthor ground of his having been in thu country at the time tho summons was delivered , and know nothing of it . Tho Recorder remit ted the fine , but directed tho gentleman to be rc-sunimone . l for the

      January session . , . Another letter-carrier in the Eastern district Ms been committed to prison for onu month , in default of paying a fine of £ 5 , at the Thames polieu-courr , for being drunk , and incapable of taking euro ot tie letters he had for delivery . It was sialol by the Post Office authorities prosecuting , Unit the pnsonor , besides , would loso his situation . At tho Central Criminal Court , on Wo . lnesUny , James Moore was charged with the murder ot m wifo Mary Ann Moore , on the 28 th ol" November . Tho prisonor had boon confined in a lunatic asylum months

      at Hoxton . -whoro ho continued sovenil , mm from which he was only discharged on tho 23 rU oi that month . Tho circumstances of the case liavt been before tho public since tho melancholy oyow . first transpired . It was evident to all in court time tho prisoner was not in pouscsslon of his right sonsos , and tho evidonce pf Dr . Gibson , aurgoou of NuwgoW . confirmed this opinion . The jury returned a vuru oi of not guilty , on tho ground of insanity , iho trwu occupied a vory long timo . The prisoner louuiy protested against boing treated aa a luimtio , aim utolared his innocence . He is to bo ilotuinud during

      the Quoon ' s ploasure . ) v Joseph Henry Jay was indicted for obtaining oy false pretences , various sums from dWrorunt P y "" It appeared from tho cvidonco , that thonriaonur iwu boon land-tax , assessed-tax , tvnd income-tax coiwow * for tho parish of Shoroditoh , and in that o » PftO 1 X had committed tiie frauds olmrgod against mm . «•"

      Untitled Article

      i « fi 2 THE LEADER . [ No . 508 . Dec . 17 , 1859

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 17, 1859, page 1362, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2325/page/6/