THE AURORA CASE.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 720, 20 September 1870, Page 3

THE AURORA CASE.

The case against Elmwood, Whitwell, Harriot, and Marks was, according to the Times of India, concluded at Bombay on the 30th July. Mr Justice Bayley, in passing sentence, said — Prisoners at the bar — It is indeed a most painful and melancholy spectacle, not only to those present in this crowded court, but to all Englishmen in India, that four of our own countrymen — persons of intelligence, and the majority of you, doubtless, men of some education — should stand in the dock convicted of a crime of such astounding audacity. In this land, so far away from our own homes, where we are but little else than a handful of men as compared with the uncounted millions of India — where the acts and deeds of most of us are watched and criticised by the keen eyes of those among whom we dwell, and where force cf character and force of example have such a mighty influence for good or for evil— one cannot but reflect upon the shock which yonr acts of conspiracy and crime must have occasioned to the mercantile classes of this city, which have long been accustomed to respect the honorable dealing of Englishmen engaged in the lucrative pursuits of commerce and trade. It is, I believe, upwards of a quarter of a century since a similar crime was planned in Bombay, and it was at the October Sessions, in the year 1844, that Sir Erskine Perry, then a puisne judge of the late Supreme Court, awarded from this bench the punishment of transportation for life to the wealthy native merchant Aloo Pnroo, and passed sentences of less severity on the two other natives who were concerned in conspiring to burn the ship Belvedere on the high seas, on her voyage from Bombay to China. As to yon Elmstone and Whitwell, I can see no extenuating circumstances whatever in your conduct. Yon contrived between you this most infamous plot ; you corrupted Harriot, and, through him, Marks, and you seduced them both from their duty to their employers. Then yon obtained large sums of money on three bills of exchange, two of them for L3OOO sterling and the third for LI2OO sterling ; and the evidence of your clerk, Anandrao Krustnarao, proves that the body of these three bills was in Elmstone' a handwriting, while the endorsement of your firm's name at the back was in the handwriting of Whitwell. Upon these bills, and upon other documents equally valueless, you obtained from the Agra Bank advances at the rate of LlO sterling per bale against what was supposed to have been 600 bales of cotton, whereas with respect to 500 bales not a particle had been shipped or was ever intended to be, and with respect to the 100 actually shipped, the cotton in them was the refuse of the bazaar — what was described in the evidence as " droppings" — of which you purchased a portion at the rate of 40 rupees, and the rest at 48 rupees per bale. Conduct more disgraceful and more criminal it is impossible to conceive. Yon, Harriot, and you, Marks, allowed yourselves to be drawn into the scheme, and after due reflection you consented, for what to you were large sums of money, to aid in the destruction of the Aurora. Your respective shares in the transaction, though highly criminal, appear to me to require a much, lighter punishment than that which will be awarded to Elmstone and Whitwell ; but still your sentence -will be severe. I have listened attentively to what has been urged by the learned conusel acting on behalf of all of you, but contrition and confession of guilt after the commission of a crime so carefully planned, and of such gravity, cannot, in my opinion, be accepted as a plea in mitigation of punishment. The sentence of the Court upon you, Christopher Thomas Elmstone, for the offence of which you have been convicted, against the provisions of the lni* perial statutes, of being accessory before the fact to the felonious destruction of the Aurora on the high seas, is that you be kept in penal servitude for the term of your natural life. The sentence of the Court upon you Alfred Whitwell, is that you be kept in penal servitude for the term of your natural life. The sentence of the Court upon you, George Harriott, for the offence of which you have been convicted, is that yon be kept in penal servitude for the term of fifteen year 3. And the sentence of the Court upon you Richard William Marks, for the offence of which you have pleaded guilty, is that you be kepfc in penal servitude for ihe term of ten years. On the sentences being pronounced, Elmstone, Whitwell, and Harriot maintained the Bame calmness which they had exhibited throughout, but Marks sobbed audibly. The prisoners were removed from the dock, and tlu proceedings in this clause celebre, whicl will long be remembered in Bombay, ter minated. The Court was crowded bj Europeans and natives, and the greatest interest was manifested in the proceedings