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yo BEN BRACE. 95
the members of the court have made up
their minds.” :
“ Made up their minds,” said another ;
“ay, long afore that: it is a fine day, and
they want to be off on shore.”
“ No,” said I, in a low tone of voice ; “ it
is much the fashion to say that justice is
never done to a sailor if his captain tries
him; but I don’t know how it is possible to
. swear so solemn an oath, and yet neglect the
case. Of course, it is not much in a man’s
favor being tried by captains,—especially
his own captain, who had already found him
guilty before hewrote for the court-martial.”
After a few minutes’ sileuce in the court,
Tackle begans—* Gentlemen of this honor-
able court,—It would, I know, be the height
of imprudence in me, after the evidence
which has been brought before you, td stand
forward and say, ‘I am not guilty ;’ for here
around me I see many of my old messmates
and shipmates. One of them has known me
twenty years since as a seaman on board the
Glasgow ; and another has known me ‘under
other circumstances.” As he said _ this,
Tackle looked at me, and 1 thought what he
said was ‘a hint for me.—* Gentlemen, I
feel an inward satisfaction in now confessing
my guilt. The apprehension of death,—aud
I know it awaits me,—is banished from my
mind ; for death alone can relieve me from
my sufferings. I need not enter at large
upon my reasons for having deserted—there
is one in the court who knows that I always
was a stranger to fear. It was not the
rumor of the probable action at Copenhagen
which prompted me to take that step; it
was a wish to return to my wife and family
at Guernsey, and once more to try my for-
tune in that line which had some ycars pre-
viously placed me in independence.
-“T did desert, and I returned to my wife.
But short was the prospect of probable con-
cealment: the hounds of justice were in
pursuit of me; I knew I was traced and
tracked. I stole a boat, and in that boat, in
the middle of the night, made suil for
France, without money, and ulmost starv-
ing. I offered my assistance to our enemies,
and in doing my duty by ther fell into the
hands of those who now act as my judges.”
Here ‘Vackle paused for a moment :—
“ My death, I know, is certain ;” he resumed:
“JT know what your sentence must be; and
] have only one duty to perform to man
before I ain in the presence of another tri-
bunal. -I do not throw myself upon the
mercy of the court, for that I know, would
be unavailing : I call upon you as men to do
your duty to your king, your country, and
your consciences.”
Never, I suppose, was there greater as-
tonishment, than when a man dressed as a
common sailor spcke as he did. ‘There was
take it hack again ; but he stood as firm as a
rock, and he never faltered or stammered.
I remember it well: when he finished,
every man along the decks felt for him.
His eyes never had a drop in them.
It was not more than half an hour before
the doors were opened again, and we were
admitted. ‘The captains had all put on their
cocked hats; not one of them looked up.
Any man could see that they had placed
their signatures to the order of death, and
that they felt like men for the poor. creature
who was so shortly to be seen at the place
of execution. They had done their duty,
as Tackle had desired them; but they could
not divest themselves of the solemn feeling
which accompanies such an awful responsi-
bility.“ Silence in the court!” It was as
still as if no human being breathed. The
judge-advocate began :--
“ At a court-martial assembled on board
of his Majesty’s ship Medusa,” and so on—
we all knew the form. Then came the list
of the members ; and then, that, having duly
and considerately examined the evidence,
‘and so forth, the prisoner was guilty. The
‘sentence of the court was, ‘ that he should
be hanged by the neck at the foreyard-arm
of his Majesty’s ship the Isis, on such day .
as the commander-in-chief should think fit
to direct.”
The prisoner never moved a muscle. A
dead silence of a moment followed ; when
the president, seeing that Tackle did not
intend to address the court, rose and said,
“This court is dissolved. Provost-marshal,
there is your prisoner!” The captains rose,
and the court was cleared.
Tt is odd how such a sentence operates on
the crew : it. was like the feeling when a
man has tumbled overboard and been drown-
ed. Anawful silence was observed, and the
men spoke in whispers : you might have led
them all like so many sheep. ‘The “ piping
the side,” us the different captains lett the
ship, at leigth made a break in the stillness;
yet they all louked as if one of them was no
more. on
Before leaving the ship I asked the cap-
tain to allow me to see the prisoner; and an
order was given that at any time I might
see him, although now the provost-marshal
never suffered him to be out of his sight. I
went to him ; he was tranquil, and held out
his hand, saying, “ It’s all over now, Brace ;
the execution is nothing; but I have some-
thing to tell you. I know we cannot be alone
now, and | should have told you before.
‘You heard me mention my wife and children?
They live at Guernsey,” and he mentioned
their abode. ‘They are provided for. But
‘for the one—for Jane’s child—I cannot
| provide : let me see her, if possible. She
does not know me as the inurderer of her
no moving about, first on one leg and then‘ mother, Brace?” and he dropped his head °
on the other; 10 stretching vut one hand to
sorrowfully,