Gentlemen; this is the evidence on both sides; and, as the attorney-general stated at the outset, undoubtedly the principal fact is the fact of mutiny, aye, or no;-whether any such mutiny did take place, as would put a good officer, as I said before, a man of common firmness, into such a state of alarm, as would make extraordinary means necessary instantly to quench the fire by overlaying it in the speediest way that he possibly could. The evidence on the part of the prosecution, states that there was no such mutiny; that there was indeed a degree of discontent, and some apprehension on the part of the soldiers, that the arrears due to them for short allowance would not be paid to them, if the governor went out of the island, and the paymaster, the commissary also, went out of the island; that they did go in some number to represent this to him, that is as they were going in their way to the commissary's house in the first instance and not meaning at all to trouble the governor then, but meaning to address themselves to the person with whom they were to settle; the orderly serjeant was sent to them, and some discourse took place between the governor and them; but, according to the testimony of those witnesses, that discourse was carried on in the most orderly manner, without the least symptom of mutiny. The men having learnt not many days before, that the governor was to quit the island, and the commissary along with him, their arrears not being settled, that might account for a degree of uneasiness, supposing there was no mutiny in the case; and it is stated that they went a second and a third time, but all these circumstances of mutiny are absolutely denied.

On the part of the prisoner, his witnesses state that these people did go in a menacing and threatening attitude; that they went three several times;, that their gestures, manner, hallooing, every thing indeed denoted mutiny. They state, in one instance, the governor going down to the parade, and finding that a prisoner had escaped-the centinel whose duty it was to take care of this prisoner-the centinel putting his bayonet to his breast and so on,-acts highly mutinous.

Now there is so wide a difference between these two accounts, that it must be left for you, when considering the testimony that is given and the character of the witnesses, to

the difference is very great between a considerable number of these men without arms, without even side arms, going a day previous to the governor's departure in an orderly and decent way,that the governor and the pay-master should not slip out of the colony without settling their arrears, and then leave them as they thought without any remedy at all;there is, I say, a wide difference between solicitations of that sort expressed once, twice or thrice, and the appearance of a drunken mutiny of persons hallooing and whooping, going, not between fifteen and twenty, or between twenty and thirty, but sixty, seventy, or eighty in number, and behaving as the witnesses on the part of the prisoner have represented. There must be gross extenuation on one side, or gross aggravation on the other side; for two such representations as these could not be given by persons meaning to speak the truth with respect to the same transaction. You will settle in your minds, whether there really was such a mutiny as would have unhinged the understanding of a humane, well-meaning officer, and make him do the best he could in an arduous situation for the sake of the public; or whether the circumstances described by the witnesses for the prosecution are made use of now, and swelled up into a mutiny of this sort (not having in truth been of that size) in order to justify the punishment of those, who were the spokesmen in either a solicitation or a mutiny; whichsoever you shall think it; whether you shall think it the one or the other will be the great point for you to consider.

If there were no such mutiny, and if there were no court-martial of any kind even the best that could be had (as is sworn by the witnesses for the prosecution), and this man was, by the command of the gentleman at the bar, tied up and received so large a punishment as eight-hundred lashes, with an instrument so unusual in its nature, the effect of which is in evidence, and which must necessarily be very different from that of nine loose strings, instead of one solid elastic mass; there is certainly ground to infer malice, according to the description I gave at the

outset.

If it shall appear to you that there was a mutiny-if it shall appear to you that there was such a court-martial as could be hadand that there was reasonable notice to the deceased, that he was so and so charged, and was called upon to say how he came to be one of those mutineers (as to which evidence does not seem to have been examined, the prisoner perhaps trusting to the notoriety of it, in the shape the witnesses for him say it existed, namely in a notorious shape)-I have the attorney-general's liberal authority for saying, in this case before us, that if you are satisfied of that, and do not derive from the degree of punishment and the mode in which

The mode of inquiry is the same which you are in the habit of pursuing in the administration of our domestic justice;-for it is conformed by statute to the practice of the common law. You have to apply the same rules of evidence, and the same principles of justice; you will be guided by the same sentiments of humanity; you will do well to remember that something of allowance is due to men of uncultivated understanding, of rough and boisterous habits, arising naturally out of their course of life, and often acting under the pressure of necessities which call for strong and even violent exertions of power -such as other modes of life do not require, and therefore are not admitted to justify or

excuse.

I point this observation to your attention the rather, because I see that the calendar contains two or three charges of murder alleged to have been committed by captains upon some of their crews. It is most true, that inhumanity is not discipline; and that no murder is so foul as that which is committed under an abuse of authority; but you will recollect withal, that the safety of great property, and what is much more, of many fives often depends upon prompt and compulsive acts, and that strong acts of that nature are apt to produce strong resentments on the part of those who are the objects of them. On charges of this kind you will look into the facts with all the anxiety which the mag. nitude of such imputed crimes require; but in no species of accusations is it more material to inspect the characters and motives of those who bring them.

I have to congratulate you that the return of peace has relieved you from the pressure of one odious class of cases-those of men deserting their king and country, and fighting the battles of the public enemy on board his ships against the lives and property of their fellow subjects-an offence which the relaxation of principle produced by the late occurrences of the world has made unhappily but too prevalent in our own time and country.

One peculiar case will call for the most diligent application of your powers of inquiry, -the offence of sinking a ship and cargo with intent to defraud the underwriters, -an offence most justly rendered capital by statute. To you, who are commercial men, it is unnecessary to say much on its malig. nity; it strikes at the root of the maritime commerce, and, consequently, of the power and the security of this country, so intimately connected with the prosperity of its maritime commerce. It is owing to the property of that class of men, the insurers, who by dividing the risk, increase the security of private individuals, and give the benefit of large capitals to the adventurer of slender means, that our commerce has triumphed in its activity over all competition. But it is property that peculiarly requires the protecting vigilance of the law, for it is property out of

the possession of those to whom it belongs, and in the possession of those, for whose benefit it is indeed employed, but who may have a corrupt interest in its destruction. The law is its protection: you will therefore grudge no time or labour in prosecuting your inquiry into the truth of such a charge, if it occurs; but you will conduct your inquiry with minds perfectly free from prejudice against the individuals charged-nothing that you may have heard,-nothing that you may have read,-must be suffered to mix itself with, and give a colour to, your judgment; you must begin and close your inquiry with ears and eyes shut to every thing but the evidence now to be adduced.

Gentlemen, I shall not detain you longer from the performance of your important duties, than by remarking that if any question of law respecting either jurisdiction or other matter should arise in the course of your inquiries, you will do well, by finding the bill to leave such question, to this court, which has more convenient and satisfactory means of deciding it.

The Grand Jury having brought in a Bill of Indictment against the Prisoners, they were arraigned, and severally pleaded not guilty.

THE Indictment set forth that William Codling late of London mariner and John Reid late of the same place mariner after the twenty-fourth day of June which was in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and twenty-five to wit on the eighth day of August in the forty-second year of the reign of king George the third upon the high sea within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty of England to wit about the distance of one league from the coast of Sussex were on board a certain vessel called the Adventure and that the said William Codling was then and there master of and belonging to the said vessel and the said John Reid was then and there an officer belonging to such vessel and that the said vessel was then and there insured for divers sums of money amounting in the whole to a large sum to wit the sum of seven hundred pounds of lawful money of Great Britain by Robert Shedden Joseph Marryat Thomas Rider William Ness James Honyman and James Nash who had before that time to wit on the first day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and two at London aforesaid severally and respectively underwritten a certain policy of insurance on the said vessel

That the said William Codling and the said John Reid so respectively being such master and officer belonging to the said vessel as aforesaid on the same eighth day of August in the forty-second year aforesaid with force and arms on the high sea aforesaid &c. wilfully and feloniously did make divers to wit three holes in and through a certain part of the said vessel called the farboard run and

tioned vessel was then and there insured for a large sum of money to wit the sum of one hundred pounds of lawful money &c. who had before that time to wit on the said first day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and two aforesaid at London aforesaid underwritten a certain policy of insurance on the said last mentioned vessel

divers to wit three other holes in and through a | certain other part of the said vessel called the larboard quarter by means whereof the water of the said sea did then and there enter fill and sink the said vessel and that the said William Codling and the said John Reid so respectively being such master and officer belonging to the said vessel as aforesaid did thereby then and there wilfully and feloniously destroy the said vessel to which they the said William Codling and John Reid did then and there respectively belong as aforesaid with a wicked and dishonest intent and design then and there to prejudice the said Robert Shedden Joseph Marryat Thomas Rider William Ness James Honyman and James Nash who had so as aforesaid underwritten the said policy of insurance on the said vessel and were then and there to wit on the said eighth day of August in the fortysecond year aforesaid on the high sea &c. severally and respectively insurers on the said vessel against the form of the statute &c. and against the peace of our said Lord the king

&c.

That William Macfarlane late of London aforesaid merchant and George Easterby late of the same place merchant on the said eighth day of August in the forty-second year aforesaid on the high sea &c. were owners of and each of them was an owner of the said vessel called the Adventure and so being such owners and each of them being such owner as aforesaid did then and there with force and arms wilfully and feloniously procure the said William Codling and the said John Reid the felony aforesaid in manner and form aforesaid to do commit and perpetrate they the said William Macfarlane and George Easterby at the time of the said felony so done committed and perpetrated by the said William Codling and John Reid as aforesaid then and there being owners and each of them being an owner of the said vessel with a wicked and dishonest intent and design then and there to prejudice the said Robert Shedden Joseph Marryat Thomas Rider William Ness James Honyman and James Nash who had so as aforesaid underwritten the said policy of insurance on the said vessel and were then and there to wit on the said eighth day of August in the forty-second year aforesaid on the high sea &c. severally and respectively insurers on the said vessel against the form of the statute and against the peace &c.

Second Count-That the said William Codling and the said John Reid afterwards to wit on the said eighth day of August in the fortysecond year aforesaid upon the high sea &c. were on board a certain other vessel called the Adventure and that the said William Codling was then and there master of and belonging to the said last-mentioned vessel and the said John Reid was then and there an officer belonging to the said last mentioned vessel and that the said last men

That the said William Codling and the said John Reid so respectively being such master and officer belonging to the said last mentioned vessel as aforesaid on the said eighth day of August in the forty-second year aforesaid with force &c. on the high sea &c. wilfully and feloniously did make divers to wit three holes in and through a certain part of the said last mentioned vessel called the larboard run and divers to wit three other holes in and through a certain other part of the said last mentioned vessel called the lar board quarter by means whereof the water of the said sea did then and there enter fill and sink the said last mentioned vessel and that the said William Codling and the said John Reid so respectively being such master and officer belonging to the said last mentioned vessel as aforesaid did then and there wilfully and feloniously destroy the said last mentioned vessel to which they the said William Codling and John Reid did then and there respectively belong as aforesaid with a wicked and dishonest intent and design then and there to prejudice the said Joseph Marryat who had so as aforesaid underwritten the said last mentioned policy of insurance on the said last mentioned vessel and was then and there to wit on the said eighth day of August &c. on the high sea &c. an insurer on the said last mentioned vessel against the form of the statute &c. and against the peace &c.

That the said William Macfarlane and the said George Easterby on the said eighth day of August &c. were owners of and each of them was an owner of the said last mentioned vessel called the Adventure and so being such owners and each of them being such owner as aforesaid did then and there with force &c. wilfully and feloniously procure the said William Codling and the said John Reid the said last mentioned felony in manner and form last aforesaid to do commit and perpetrate they the said William Macfarlane and George Easterby at the time of the said last mentioned felony so done committed and perpetrated by the said William Codling and John Reid as aforesaid then and there being owners and each of them being an owner of the said last mentioned vessel with a wicked and dishonest intent and design then and there to prejudice the said Joseph Marryat who had so as aforesaid underwritten the said last mentioned policy of insurance on the said last mentioned vessel and was then and there to wit on the said 8th day of August &c. on the high sea &c. an insurer on the said last mentioned vessel against

the form of the statute &c. and against the peace &c.

Third Count-That the said William Codling and the said John Reid afterwards to wit on the said eighth day of August &c. upon the high sea, &c. were on board a certain other vessel called the Adventure and that the said William Codling was then and there master of and belonging to the said last mentioned vessel and the said John Reid was then and there an officer belonging to the said last mentioned vessel and that the said last mentioned vessel was then and there insured for divers sums of money amounting in the whole to a large sum to wit the amount of seven-hundred pounds of lawful money of Great Britain by Robert Shedden Joseph Marryat Thomas Rider William Ness James Honyman and James Nash who had before that time to wit on the said first day of July &c. severally and respectively underwritten a certain policy of insurance on the said last mentioned vessel

That the said William Codling and the said John Reid so respectively being such master and officer belonging to the said last mentioned vessel as aforesaid on the said eighth day of August &c. with force &c. on the high sea &c. wilfully and feloniously did cast away the said last mentioned vessel to which they the said William Codling and John Reid did then and there respectively belong as aforesaid with a wicked and dishonest intent and design then and there to prejudice the said Robert Shedden Joseph Marryat Thomas Rider William Ness James Honyman and James Nash who had as aforesaid severally and respectively underwritten the said last mentioned policy of insurance on the said last mentioned vessel and were then and there to wit on the said eighth day of August &c. on the high sea &c. severally and respectively insurers on the said last mentioned vessel against the form of the statute &c. and against the peace &c.

That the said William Macfarlane and the said George Easterby on the said eighth day of August &c. were owners of and each of them was an owner of the said last mentioned vessel called the Adventure and so being such owners and each of them being such owner as aforesaid did then and there with force &c. wilfully and feloniously procure the said William Codling and John Reid the felony last aforesaid in manner and form last aforesaid to do commit and perpetrate they the said William Macfarlane and George Easterby at the time of the felony last aforesaid by the said William Codling and John Reid so done committed and perpetrated as last aforesaid then and there being owners and each of them being an owner of the said last mentioned vessel with a wicked and dishonest intent and design then and there to prejudice the said Robert Shedden Joseph Marryat Thomas Rider William Ness James Honyman and James Nash who had so as aforesaid severally

and respectively underwritten the said last mentioned policy of insurance on the said last mentioned vessel and were then and there to wit on the said eighth day of August &c. on the high sea &c. severally and respectively insurers on the said last mentioned vessel against the form of the statute &c. and against the peace &c.

Fourth Count-That the said William Codling and the said John Reid on the said eighth day of August &c. upon the high sea &c. were on board a certain other vessel called the Adventure and that the said William Codling was then and there master of and belonging to the said last mentioned vessel and the said John Reid was then and there an officer belonging to the said last mentioned vessel and that the said last mentioned vessel was then and there insured for a large sum of money to wit the sum of one hundred pounds of lawful money of Great Britain by Joseph Marryat who had before that time to wit on the said first day of July &c. at London aforesaid underwritten a certain policy of insurance on the said last mentioned vessel.

That the said William Codling and the said John Reid so respectively being such master and officer belonging to the said lastmentioned vessel as aforesaid on the said eighth day of August &c. with force &c. on the high sea &c. wilfully and feloniously did cast away the said last-mentioned vessel to which they the said William Codling and John Reid did then and there respectively belong as aforesaid with a wicked and dishonest intent and design then and there to prejudice the said Joseph Marryat who had so as aforesaid underwritten the said last mentioned policy of insurance on the said last-mentioned vessel and was then and there to wit on the said eighth day of August &c. on the high sea &c. an insurer on the said last-mentioned vessel against the form of the statute &c. and against the peace &c.

That the said William Macfarlane and the said George Easterby on the said eighth day of August &c. on the high sea &c. were owners of and each of them was an owner of the said last-mentioned vessel and so being such owners and each of them so being such owner as aforesaid did then and there with force &c. wilfully and feloniously procure the said William Codling and the said John Reid the said last mentioned felony in manner and form last aforesaid to do commit and perpetrate they the said William Macfarlane and George Easterby at the time of the said last-mentioned felony by the said William Codling and the said John Reid so done committed and perpetrated as last aforesaid then and there being owners and each of them being an owner of the said last mentioned vessel with a wicked and dishonest intent and design then and there to prejudice the said Joseph Marryat who had so as aforesaid underwritten the said last mentioned policy of insurance on the said last-mentioned vessel and was then and there