OUR HOME LETTER.

Evening Star, Issue 3858, 6 July 1875, Page 3

OUR HOME LETTER.

Afterwards followed Mr Bright, who, in an admirable speech vindicated the purity of our tribunals, and gave a most lucid resum6 of evidence, proving to demonstration that the claimant could not be Roger Tichborne. The true test of identity, said Mr Bright, was not what a person remembered of his past life, but what he forget. The The claimant had shown an acquaintauc. with many details cf the life of Roger Tichbirne, but- it was clearly po:sible that such knowledgfe might have been communicated to him. On the ether hand he had not ha I access to sources jk information as to Tichborne’s life prior to the age of sixteen ; and of everything relating to that prriod, the 'claimant showed the most complete ignorance. Was it possible, Mi Bright asked, that anyone could forget everything that had happened to Ir'm up to the ago of sixteen ? Could not everyone recount hundreds of minute circumstances that had ineradically impressed themselves on his memory when young? In relation to the composition of the jury, Mr Bright pointed out that its members were drawn from every rank of life, and their occupations were a sufficient guarantee against ariatrooratic or jesuitical influence. On the vote being taken for the motion one voice only was recorded in its favor as against 433. Dr Kenealy and Mr Whalley acted as tellers, and their solitary supporter was Major O’Qorman, the member for Waterford.

Thus has ended this mi erable fiasco , ludicrous enough if we c >nfiue attention only to the members by which the motion was thrown out ; but, in view of the agitation oat of doors, the c,as*> wears a more rerious aspect. That Hr Kenealy, mi! a host of men with whom he acts, should have succeeded in persuading vast masses of the ignorant that the claimant is really the person he represent i himself to be, is perhaps a matter of not much importance. But the cas i virtually amounts to much more than this. There are hundreds of thousands, and perhaps millions, who r.ot only believe that Orton is Tichborne, but one professed with a profound conviction that our courts of justice are corrupt, and influenced by the most shameleES partiality. The discovery of this alarming fact has naturally caused a £roound sensation lb is evidence of an atnouut of distrust and discontent among the poorer classes which was never deemed possible to exist, Jn fact the Orton-K'snea.jv demonstrations are in a great measure, only the channel in which a vaet mass of discontent finds the means of expressing ifcftif. Were the poorer classes ai generally well satisfied with the treatment they vc-ueive at the hands of the law, as the i>tddJe and npp c r classes have reason to 1<», such wide-spread belief in the failure of justice would be impossible. There, aowe.Tbr, is the melancholy fact, and it

is one which our legislators would do well to ponder on. The reasons which predispose the lower ranks to di trust the fairness of our tribunals, are, perhaps, not so difficult to get at when we remember the extreme severity of punishment with which the crifties of the poor are visited, as compared with the almost, perfect immunity of the rich. ' Only yesterday my eye caught a paragraph ' intimating that a working man had teen.sent to prison for a month, with hard labor, “for abusive language.” Did we ever hear of such a sentence being awarded to what is technically called “a gentleman?’’ Fancy an ex army officer sent to gaol for a month for bullying and abasing a waiter ! Why* the supposition is too absurd for tho wildest imagination. Again, a poor man commits a paltry theft, and is awarded seven years’ transportation; whilst some fraudulent bankrupt, or joint-stock companj swindler, spreads ruin through a hundred households, and .gets no penalty whatever. Such, f think, may be among the causes of discontent, of which the sympathy with Orton is but the outward sLn and txoression.

Another story of melancholy and tragic interest I have to relate mutiny, and murder on board the Jefferson Borden. This vessel is a three-masted schooner, and the occurrence took place oh her recently-completed voyage from IVew Orleans to Loudon, On starting upon the sth March she had tea souls on board- Captain Patterson, his wife, a first mate, who was brother of the captain; a second mate, also named Patterson, who was their cousin; a steward, who was a German; George Malbr, A.8., a Finn; William Smith, A.8., an American ; John Clew, A.B , an Englishman ; Jacob Liuguer, A.8., a Swede ; and a French boy named Henri. From the evidence of the captain it transpires that about a week after the commencement of the voyage there had been some trouble with Mallar, who, for insub ordination, abusive language, and the threatened use of his knife, was placed in irons, from which, however, he was released on apologising and promif iug to do bettor in future. He signed a note in the log-hook to that effect, the other sermon promising ia seme sort to be his sponsors. A few nights afterward, on the 20th April, Captain Patterson was awakened by Mallar, who came aft to the door of his cabin and begged him to go into the forecastle, as Clew, he said, had broken his leg. Mrs Patterson seemed to perceive intuitively that something was wrong—it was noticed that Mallar kept one hand behind him—and she begged her husband not to go forward. The captain then called out for the second mate, who had the watch at the time, but no v ice replied. He then asked “Jake” or Jacob Lingen, the man at the wheel, if he knew where the second mate was, and was told in reply that he was somewhere forward. Bepeated calls for both first aud second mec with no response, and tho steward who was sent forward to search for them return d, saying they could nowhere be found. By this time, Mallar, Clew, and Smith bad taken up a position in the forward house of the vessel, where they held the captain at bay, telling the steward, however, that the mates were all right and would be surrendered if the captain parted with a revolver, with which he had armed himself. The captain asked the man at the wheel to tell all he knew, bat the man could say nothing more than that “ he had heard a cry.” For some hours tho hope seems to have been cherished that the mates might be on board, aud the captain made repeated demands for their surrender, threatening however that unless they were given up, and the mutineers returned to duty, h3 would fire upon them. A'l this proving ineffectual, the captain made a harmless demonstration by firing his double-barrelled gun, but as the men still refused submission, he took his revolver and commence ! firing in earnest. The men availed themselves of the shelter of the forward house, and returned the captain’s fire with volleys of iron bolts, bottles, and any missiles they could find. Twice the captain was struck, and the steward oftener, but still the captain kept firing whenever he got an opportunity ; and, in reply to an offer made by Smith to give up the mates, if the shooting were stopped, he replied that it would cease when the mates were given up, but, till then, it would be continued hotter and hotter. Whilst this battle was going on the wind freshened considerably, and, as the vessel was under full sail, it became necessary to take measures for her safety. The wheel being lashed, the steward, Jake, and the boy did what they could to take canvass off the after masts, whilst the captain and his wife kept watch over the mutineers. The for matt sails cou’d not be reached, and were consequently blown to pir ces. First went the foretopsail, then the flying jib, lastly, jfche foresail, with its boom, was carried bodily away. When this dreadful position had continued for many hours, the captain determined at last to bring it to a close, ani, as nothing could be s;eu of the mutineers who had taken refuge in the 'orecastle, he went forward and managed to secure the door. He then cut a hole through the bulkhead that separated the forecastle from the cook’s galley, and recommenced firing through it. At last Waller, who was wounded in the leg, and suffering torments from thirst, offered to give in, and eventually the whole three submitted to be put in irons. In reply to the question now put, “ Where are the mates ?” Waller replied, “They are overboard;” and confessed .to having killed the first mate by striking him en the head with au iron bolt. Smith fimilarly owned to having thrown overboard the second officer. When the men bad been handcuffed the forecastle-door was opened and their wounds examined; but as those of Smith and Mallar were not such as wholly to incapacitate them, chains were also placed on their legs. The only ex'enuatioa urged on behalf of the mutineers is alleged ill-treat-ment; but the steward and boy bc:.r testimony to the uniform kindness of the captain. As to whether there were sufficLnt hands to man the vessel without overwhelming them, that perhaps has yet to be seen. A Norwegian barque that the Jefferson Border fell in with some clays after the tragedy pub one man on board to help to navigate her, and with no more hands than Jake, the steward, the boy He ri, aud the addi ional seaman * hus obtained, Captain Patterson succeeded in bringing his vessel safely to the Thames. As the news came to hand some days bsfore her arrival, she was met by the United States Consul and the captains of nearly all the .American ships in port, who went to express their sympathy with Captain Patterson in the desperately trying ordeal ha had gore through. Mrs Palters m, whose system w.s greatly thaker, h-s been hospi. tably received by friends, and it ia hoped she will recover the fearful shock she has endured. Bespeotingthe mutineers. Smith’s wounds are nob very severe, but those of ' Walla)- and Clew are very serious, and doubts are entertained whether the latter Will recover. The men were remove! to the J.ondon Hospital, and warrants have been issued for their detention until they arc claimed under the extrs.ditioa treaty by the A merican Government; for, as the murders were committed upon the high seas, and on board au American ship, the case ful’s under lb« cognisance of United States tribunals. (To be continued.)