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Leader (1850-1860), 17th December 1859, Edition 2 of 2, Page 6

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      Naval, And Military. The New Screw Steam...

      Nelson , in No . 3 dock , is nearly comp leted in her conversion froin 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 literally set themselves in battle array

      against . their officers , who , instead of punishment , are receiving considerable sums of money as bounty at your expense and mine , and who , moveover , are greedily snapped up by recruiting sergeants to join the Queen ' s service ; and , secondly , that 10 S sailors , who have been tried in a batch , and have 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 gaol . " 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 Smet hurst , a man who had forfeited the sympathies of the world . Is there rio one with power , money , and influence who will advocate the reversal of the sentence on these hundred

      and eight men ? If there besuch a one . rand he has not the will , let not that man join it 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 lOS men-be 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 .

      ; , ¦ .—. ¦ " ~ "—" ' " ' ^ Csoj' In 136...

      ¦ 1362 THE LEADER . [ No . 508 . Dec . 17 , 1 & 59

      Vat Ttntttn?!? Rrtnix /Vu Va^Ajsn^N. Ajjxl B

      The value of working men s services is beginning to be appreciated as it ought to be , and artisans are beginning to mix iu the ranks with those of higher social standing . At Birmingham , the Mayor , Sir John Ratcliffe , Messrs . Charles . Shaw , Messrs . Dixon , and other firms in the town , agreed to equip twenty men each ; and other gentlemen and firms put down their names for the equipment of numbers of men ranging from 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 been 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 . Any 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 half-a-g . uinea . He knew there were plenty of young men of his o \ vri 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 Grosvenor-square , and he felt it was his duty to stand up 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 " Qn urgent private affairs . "

      In consequence of numerous applications to the War-office for advice as to the proper uniform for volunteer corps , & c , 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 .

      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 ease , we find mention made of Plumstend , Wiveliseombe , Idle , Wigton , Camelford , Burlington , West Bromwich , Torquay , Rugeley , Wells , Farehnm , Worthing , Chirnside , Aytoun , Wickham Market , Abingdon , Blything , and Northfleet . In the metropolis also there are signs of increase . T he movement in the St . Giles ' s and Bloomsbury parishes is proceeding favourably , and . arrangements will be made for drilling as soon as a sufficient number of volunteers have enrolled themselves . — An influential meeting of the Bermondsey Volunteer Rifle Corps was held in the St . James's schools on Tuesday evening—Mr . W . Darnell , churchwarden , in the chair—for the purpose of nominating gentlemen as officers . Two companies of 60 each nominated their officers , which , with the names of the members , has been forwarded to the Lord-Lieutenant for approval . Tho third company is also nearly formed , and it is fully expected that this corps will in a short time number at leaet 500 effectives . Upwards of . £ 300 has already boon subscribed , ' A communication has been received by the Secretary of the London Irish Volunteora , from Lord Gough , signifying his Lordship ' s intention of joining the council , and co-operating for the general welfare of the movement . Tho same communication brought tho sad intelligence that his Lordship had been unable to give an earlier intimation of his friondly support tp . the movement , owing to his having met with !* a dangerous fall and boing completely lai & irp . " . . It has been resolved by the Edinburgh University to constitute a second company , tho enrolment having reached above 120 , ana Professor Ohriatlson baa been elected captain of tho second company . u , hl 8 vrlll make'the 17 th company of tlio Edinburgh regiment , most of which are at present near the maaimum'bompleinont .

      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 & s 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 advantago 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 the terminus and the 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 ovory reasonable encouragement ought to , bo given by tho directors and by the shareholders of tho Great Northern Railway Company to the ofneors and men in that service to volunteer to form part of a riflo corps ; but as I doubt whether their numbers would be sufficient to formaregiment of 1 , 000 men , I think the whole subject ought to bo discussed among tho leading men of , at least , four or five railway companies , whose termini aro on tho north side of tho Thames . "

      Law, Police, Ajnd Casualties. Sir Henry ...

      LAW , POLICE , AJND CASUALTIES . Sir Henry Singjsu Kkatino , the Solicitor-General , has been appointed to the puisno judgesliin of the Common Pleas , vacant by tho death of Mr . Justice Crowdor . Tho judgmont delivered by Sir Crosswoll Crosswell in tho ease of Yelverton v , Yelvorton , on Wed-, neflday Inst , will not , it is said , havo the effect of terminating those extraordinary proceedings . Major Yolverton having established un Irish domicile for himself and wife , Mrs . Ydlvorton ' s frlonds havo decldod on taking immediate steps in tho Irish courts of law to establish tho validity of her marriage , and for this purpose havo retained tho Bcrriccs of tho Attorney-General for Ireland . Tho inquiry irito tho late frauds on tho City of

      ; , ¦ . — . " ~ " — " ' " ' ^ CSOJ' in i . _ London Union , has been resunied before Mr . Parnell the assistant Poor-law commissioner , at the City of London Union Office , in St . Mary-axe , for the purpose of hearing tho claims preferred against the union by tradesmen , treasurers of parishes , & e Several legal gentlemen appeared on behalf of the different parties . Evidence was given respecting claims and accounts , after which the court was closed , and the inspector announced that lie would , forthwith , make his report to the Puor Law Hoard .

      At the Court of Bankruptcy a dividend has been ordered to be declared iiuder the failure of Joseph Moses , metal dealer , in Iloundsditeh , who it is stated absconded some time since with liirgo ' anj valuable cargoes of goods obtained from his creditors , is now in Melbourne , and has been proclaimed an outlaw . Another lengthened inquiry , now goin ^ on at th e Court of Common Pleas , arises for an action brought by Mr . It ! . 13 . Oakley against IMahoniined Mussehood-Deen , the ambassador of the King of Oude , on a bill of exchange for . £ 6 , 500 .

      On Thursday the Ecclesiastical Commission appointed by the Bishop of London to-inquire into the extraordinary case against the Rev . J . Bon well , incumbent of St . Philip ' s , was opened in the Common Hall , Doctor' Commons , the Commissioners being Dr . Travcrs Twiss , Chancellor of the Diocese ; the Ven . Archdeacon Hale ; the Rev . Canon Dale , M . A ., vicar of St . Paneras ; the Rev . \ V . G . Humphrey , B . D ., vicar of St . Martin-in-the-Fiehls ; and the

      Rev . J .- K- Ivempe , M . A ., rector of St . James's , Westminster . A number of witimsji .-s Vere examined at great length ; the charge against the rev . delinquent is that of having seduced and promised marriage to a young lady who after wards' juvo birth to a child . The infant died on the twelfth day , and was secretly buried . During the time that he was carrying on this business he was already married , his wife keeping a ladies' school in

      Islington .. William Shirtcli . ffe , lately carrying on business in Castlegate , Nottingham , as a lace niamifu'Jturer and commission agiiht , h : is been commit ted for trial , ¦ charged with having , on the 1 st of March , 1859 , feloniously uttered a forged promissory , note , for the payment of £ 144 , with intent to defraud , knowing the . sanis to be forged against Hie form of the statute in such case made and provided . There sire , it is stated , no less than thirteen other cases against the prisoner , involving charges of fraud and forgery upon the London ' Monetary Advance and Life Assurance Company to the amount of about . £ l , ooo .

      The December session of the Central Criminal Court was opened this week , when the grand jury threw out the bill preferred against James Towers , committed for a rape on Hannah Percival . —On the application of Mr . Poland , tho trial of Hughes , the solicitor ; was again postponed until thu January session . —Robert Hastings , letter carrier , pleaded guilty totwo indictments , charging him with stealing letters containing money . It appears that he had carried on this practice to a great extent , and he was

      sentenced to four years' penal servitude . — Mr . Sleigh applied to the Court to remit the fine of a gentleman for non-attendance as a juror last session , on the ground of his being a dentist , anil consequently a member of the medical profession , and on the further ground of his having been in thu country at the time the summons was delivered , and knew nothing of it . Tho Recorder remitted the lino , but directed the gentleman to be re-sunnnoncil lor the January session . . .... district lias

      Another lottor-carricr in the Nastorn boon committed to prison for ono month , mi default of paying a fine of £ 5 , at tho Thames police-court , for being drunk , and incapable- of talcing euro ot t no letters he had for delivery . It was ma-to . 1 l > y t' » ° Post Offlccauthoritios prosecuting , Unit the prisoner , bosides , would lose his situation . At the Central Criminal Court , on \\ odnesdaj , James Moore was charged with the inunL-r ol m » wife Mary Ann Moore , on tho 28 th of JsovemDoi . Tho prisoner had been confined in u lunatic uayium mouths

      at Hoxton , where ho continued soveral , anu from which lie was only discharged on ihu S . 'Jra oi that month . The circumstances of tho case na > G been before tho public , since the melancholy ovon * first transpired . It was evident to till in court time the prisoner was not in possession of his right souses , and the evidonce of }) r . Gibson , surgeon oi Nuwgii c , conflrmod this opinion . Tho jury returned a voru « of not guilty , on tho ground of insanity . Llio tnoi pcoupiod a vory long timo . The prisonor louuiy protested against being treated as n lunatic , «»« "" dared his innocence . Ho is to bo dotuinuU « ull"ff

      tlie Quoon ' s pleasure . , , ,. „ Joseph Henry Jay was indlotod fov obtaining « y false pretences , various sums from dlfloroni l ) Ol'a ?'' ° , " It appeared from tho evidence , that tho prisoner nwi been land-tax , aaaessod-tax , and income-tax cuiiouw ' for tho parish of Shoredltch , and In that oipW had committed the frauds ohargod against him . - " •«

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 17, 1859, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_17121859/page/6/