CHARGE OF TYRANNY AND OPPRESSION:A Court-martial assembled on Saturday last,
on board the St. Vincent, at Portsmouth, to inquire into the circumstances attending the death of William Heritage, a boy belonging to the North Star (Lord W. Paget, captain), who drowned
himself on the 22nd May last. It appeared that the boy had been pu- nished for riot returning the key of the water-tank to the sentry on duty : he had given the key to another man, who wished a draught of
water, on the man's pledging himself to return it—which he did not. Ile had also been punished for speaking to another boy on the quarter.
deck. (The other boy, who was examined, had been punished for the same offence.) He had been repeatedly beaten, and driven about by a boatswain's mate named Ging, who seems to have entertained a dislike of the boy. He had, on a previous occasion, been punished for not hav- ing his hammock lashed in proper time,—owing, as the witness said, to sufficient time not being given for the purpose. Under all this harsh treatment, the boy's spirit sunk ; and, under the apprehension of being again flogged and beaten, he threw himself overboard from the head of the ship. When the boy threw himself overboard, the Captain was not on deck. " When he came on deck," said the captain of the foretop, one of the witnesses examined at the court-martial, "he called me aft, and in- quired of me if I knew any thing about the boy. I told him what I before stated, and which the two men at the head had heard also. He then desired me to send the two men aft, which I did ; and he inquired of them what they knew about the boy : they told him that they had heard the boy say he would never more be punished in the ship. The Captain then asked Lieutenant Wheatley, where the other boy was that was going to be punished ? Lieutenant Wheatley pointed to the larboard gangway ; when the Captain said, ' Take him forward, and give him his punishment according to what he deserves.' On the boy being re- ported overboard, we rounded to immediately. The Captain never asked whether the boy had ever complained of cruelty. When he ordered the other boy forward to give him such punishment as he de- served, he said, Let him go overboard too, if he thinks proper.'" It ap- peared that there was an order, signed by the Captain, affixed to a board on the gun-deck, forbidding any petty officer to strike the men, and stating that the quarter-deck would be at all times open to their com- plaints. The whole of the evidence, however, went to prove that, with respect to boys at least, these orders were a dead letter. It did not appear that Ging, the boatswain's mate, had ever been complained of, though several witnesses spoke to his savage treatment of the boy. Lord Paget, against whom personally there was no charge, was honourably acquitted.
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