COURTS MARTIAL.

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 684, 3 November 1852, Page 3

COURTS MARTIAL.

Interesting Courts-Martial have recently been held at Portsmcmth and Woolwich. At the former place, Lieutenant Finney, of the first Battalion of Royals, has been found guilty of unlawfully attempting to place a senior officer in arrest, of having ordered the regimental guard to arrest the officer, and of having commanded a sergeant to place these men in confinement because they did not obey his illegal order. But the Court, while dismissing him from the service, strongly recommended him to the merciful consideration of the Q,ueen, as he might have acted under a misconception of the 15th Article of War, and as he was "at the time considerably excited by attendant circumstances." The circumstances were : — Captain Curtis, while drunk — " beastly drunk," as the prisoner declared — grossly insulted Lieutenant Finney: it was while Captain Curtis was attempting to gain admittance to a public-house in the town that the Lieutenant ordered his arrest, — or, as he asserted, directed the guard to "see him home." The sentence was approved of, and the recommendation to mercy also listened to : Lieutenant Finney was allowed to receive the value ot his commission ; and it is said that Captain Curtis has sold out of the Royals. At Woolwich Captain Hawkey was tried for assaulting Lieutenant Swaine; both are officers of the Royal Marines. Captain Hawkey is the gentleman who had the misfortune 'some years back to kill Mr. Seaton in a duel. He is married, and has four children ; his wife has property of her own. He seems to have been a most affectionate husband. Lieutenant Swaine paid undue attentions to Mrs. Hawkey. If servants could be believed, Mrs. Hawkey had been criminally unfaithful to her husband. Captain Hawkey was informed of this by one servant some Lime since ; the lady vowed it was false, and her husband, though grieved at her levity, still believed her virtuous. lie was very unhappy, and separate 1 from his wife for a time. They were afterwards reconciled. That the husband had good c.uisj for jealousy Lieutenant Swainc's own ad minions on cross-examination proved. He denied that he had been in the lady's bedroom, but confessed that lie had sat in her lap. That Captain Hawkey was in a most unhappy position — a peculiarly unhappy one for "an officer and a gentleman" — was proved by the examination of brother officers to whom he had unbosomed himself. To one he said, his wife's conduct had nearly driven him mad. " You alluded to that unfortunate occasion of your having taken the life of a fellow creature ; you said that ought to have been a sufficient lesson for her, and that nothing again would ever induce you to become a butcher again for her or any one else." To another officer he complained of his wife dancing with Lieutenant Swaine at a soiree while temporarily separated from her husband. " You then said, ' What is to be don? ? I must separate for ever from her. Her want of wisdom and discretion will send me mad. I have already on this account sent a fellow-creature before his God, and am Itodo it again V You then said with emphasis, *I will not! I have too much on my mind already.' At that moment 1 saw a tear come into your eye, but with a manly spirit you turned round and wiped it off. You then touched the crape upon your arm and said, ' I will wear this for that man to the end of my days.' " It was after this that the pair were reconciled for a time. On the 26th April Mr. and Mrs. Hawkey were walking together; they met Lieutenaut Swaine; Mrs. Hawkey quitted her husband's arm and spoke to the Lieutenant. The outraged husband could^not control his feelings, but immediately attacked Lieutenant Swaine with a stick, and gave him a heaity drubbing, which was only terminated by a senior officer who came by at the time putting both gentlemen under arrest. Subsequently to this, Captain Hawkey receive] fresh proofs of the misbehaviour of his wife. The prisoner received the highest character from numbers of officers. The Court found that the assault had been committed ; but, taking into consideration the "lono-eontinued provocation" he had received, they did not think he had bedn guilty of "conduct unbecoming the character of an officer and a gentleman," and they fully acquitted him of that part 'of 'the charge. Captain Hawkey was merely : sensitised' to be' reprimanded^ for tho breach of the Articles of War.

Paisley New Zealand and Australian Emigration Society.— A numerous meeting of this society was jheld on 28th May, in the beaming houso of George White, New Town, to hear com-

munications from the Secretary of the Colonial Land & Emigration Connni->sionoi i s,nnd Mr. Lcckhart, M.P., for Lanarkshire The communications were to the effect thai, the regulations of the Commissioners have been relaxed so far that weavers, under the description of artisans, are now eligible for five pa^ages to Australia, on payment of X 2 each adult under -15 yeais of age, and of 10s. for every child under 14 yeais. The society numbers, in the moan time, about 100 persons, representing- 70 families, of 5 persons (3 adults and 2 children on the average) in each family. The payments required, therefore, amount to M 7 each family, or .£4OO 0 0 Add to this, outfits and travilling expenses to the port of embarkation, £1 per hear], required by the regulations, or £5 per family 350 0 0 i.840 0 0 in all, is required before the members of the society can avail themselves of the olfered free (!) passages. The following resolutions were proposed and agieed to : — That the members of this society feel grateful that her Majesty's. Commissioners of Emigration have withdrawn the invidious regulation, wheroby weavers were not held entitled to participate in the priviliges of free passage to our Australasian colonies. That the restrictions, however, still remaining, in the shape of payments of £2 per head for adults, and 10s. for children, besides outfits and travelling expenses operate as a complete bar or exclusion of the nvmbeis of the society from the privilege, as it is utterly impossible they can raise the necessary hinds irom their oa\ii resources ; and they do not believe one-tenth of the necessary sum (say £1000) is likely to be raised by subscription amongst their icllow-townsmcn in Paisley. That, therefore, if the regulations cannot be further relaxed in favour of the society, the meeting is of opinion the Lords of the Treasury should be asked to advance the necessary t>um in loan, which the members of the society will bind themselves jointly and severally to repay on the principle on which advances for drainage are repaid, viz., in instalments of six per cent, per annum, so that the whole sum, principal and inteiest, will be paid In twenty years after arrival in the colony. That failing this proposal being* complied with, a pit.posal for a lo.in be made to private capitalist"; ai.d in the event of failure in this case also, that then an urgent appeal be made in Glasgow and throughout the kingdom for a public subscription on behalf of the society : and that in the mean time a local fund be raised, as far as possible to defray necessary expenses, &c. That these resolutions be forthwith communicated by the honorary secretary to Sir J. Pakington, also to the Lords of the Treasury, and her Majesty's Coloninl Land and Emigration Comi mis'sioners. That the thanks of the society be conveyed to his grace the Duke of Argyll, and the Earl ofShaftesbury for advancing the claim of the hand-loom weavers in the House of Lords ; also, to the [{qnorable Sidney Herbert, M.F., Mr. Lockh.ivt, M,l-\ for Lanarkshire, and to Mr, Ha^tie, M.P., for Paisley, and Provost Phillips, j for their services on behalf of the society,

Emigration to Australia. — The London correspondent of the Manchester Examiner writes : The but arrival from Australia has brought so many letters from persons who loft England for that colony last year, that the mania for emigration threatens to increase to what the theatrical critics would call a perfect furor. The number of young shopmen and warehousemen in the metropolis who have made up their minds to go off to the diggings this summer is quite astounding. In many warehouses in the city several of the clerks are going off: and I heard of one large establishment in which no fewer than ten young men have given notice of their intention to leave for Australia within the next six weeks. The great difficulty appears to be the want of vessels, but that will not long remain an obstacle. If freights run high, we shall soon hear of plenty of first-class ships being diverted from other branches of traffic to the profitable one of em rying human cargoes to the antipodes. Nor will the crowds who are leaving this country to make their fortunes on the other side of the globe be long content with ordinary sailing vessels. Should gold continue as plentiful for the next few years as it promises to be, we shall soon see two or three lines of steamers running regularly between England and Australia, were it for no other purpose than to bring home a number of those who have saved enough to enable them to live in comfort for the rest of their lives, and who have not been long enough away from their native land to make them prefer the new country to the old one. House of Commons, June 15, 1852. — " On the Committee of Supply, to call the attention of the Hou&e to the case of Mr. Mather, and generally to the state of public affairs." Such was the ominous announcement which stood for last evening, at the instance of Lord John Russell. No one could doubt the intention of his lordship. It w .■•. evident that he contemplated a general onslaught on the Chancellor of the Exchequer and his colleagues, and as Mr. DUraeli must have had a pretty good notion of what the charges against him would be, there was ample time for him to prepare an able reply. Lord John's speech was exceedingly good. His statement of the Mather case was not oveidone, and his rapid review of the short comings and inconsistencies of the present administration was done in a masterly style, and told exceedingly well upon a crowded house. As for the other speeches of the evening, though some of them were pretty goud, they were all thrown into the shade by that of Mr. Disraeli. lie followed Lord Paluiersk n, who had confined himself to the foreign question, and even on that, his favourite topic, he wad not so lively as usual. It, was nearly eleven when bo sat down, and the Speaker having retired for some refreshment, the house resolved itself into a standing committee. Before the Speaker had returned, I saw that the gallery on the left hand of the chair had gradually filled, a sure sign that the Chancellor of the Exchequer intended to speak. He began in a very modest tone, nordid he warm with his theme so long as he remained on the Italian question, although even there he contrived to give Lord John one or two pretty hard bits, which brought down roars of laughter and tumultuous cheers from his eagerly listening followers. But it was when he came to affairs in general that he shone out most bi illiantly. There was no stammering there, as there had been at times, to a painful extent, in the eaily part of his speech. One point after another was taken up and handled with a marvellous combination of wit and sophistry, all delivered, too, in that dashing, audacious stjle has so much effect in making shallow people — in other words, the groat majority of mankind — imagine thai, a man who speaks in such a confident, triumphant tone must be in the right. Ilia speech lasted more than an horn*, and he sat down ainid&t a perfect hurricane of applause. Pacifc Ueiversity.— The Trustees of this University, lately known as the California TVesloyan Coilego, held an interesting meeting at Santa Clara, on the 7th inst. it is resolved to proceed at once, and as last as possible, to procure the necessary materials for the main building, five hundred thousand bricks will be needed, and as soon as furnished will probably be laid up in a style of architecture suited to the objects of the institution. The thanks of the public are due to the citizens of Santa Clara, for their libeial subscript'ona to the enterprise. The-prim-ary building is nearly finished, and will be opened for scholars under the able principal, the Rev. E. Bmnistcr, assisted by Mrs. Bannister and Mr.'' J. W. Wells, on the 3d of May.— (From theCalifornia Christian Advocate, a journal published under the patronage of the California DLsyrct Methodist Episcopal Ccurch.