256 MAJOR WYNDHAM AND THE CAT. 



with regard to his political opinions, than for the offence with which he 

 was charged ? If the punishment had a political bearing, it was mon- 

 strous ; and if for the alleged offence, it was far more severe than any 

 on record for a similar delinquency. 



Let us then see what are the points adduced against such a view of 

 the affair, by the self-styled court of inquiry, or, as it is aptly styled by 

 an evening journal the " court of concealment/' In doing so, we will 

 merely advert to a very few points, wherein it appears to us that the 

 pith and marrow of the affair must be conceived to rest. 



The petition, which was presented to the House of Commons by Mr. 

 Hume, and which was, of course, framed upon the statement of Somer- 

 ville, sets forth, among other things, that in a day or two after the ap- 

 pearance of the letter, " this man was picked out of the ranks, c." The 

 report of the Court of Inquiry denies this as follows. " Incorrect : as 

 the newspaper was, that of the 27th, and at least only received on that 

 day at Birmingham ; and the refusal to mount at the riding school took 

 pkce early on the 28th. There is no evidence that Somerville was 

 picked out; on the contrary, it appears that he went to the riding 

 school, as a matter of course, with the other recruits to take a lesson." 

 Why this but adds fuel to the fire. The " Dispatch" was published on 

 Saturday the 26th ; was therefore transmitted by the mail from London 

 on that night, and found its way, as usual, to the breakfast tables of the 

 inhabitants of Birmingham, that of the mess or club-room of the Scot's 

 Greys included, on the morning of Sunday the 27th, as usual. Surely 

 there was time enough for Major Wyndham, then in command of the 

 regiment, to become acquainted (as doubtless he did) with the circum- 

 stance j inasmuch as there was no concealment, the name of the writer 

 being appended to the letter. It is therefore absurd to say that the 

 hurried punishment on the 28th had not reference to the cause of it on 

 the 27th ! Besides, if it were necessary to do away a doubt on this 

 point, it is admitted by the court of inquiry that Major Wyndham 

 harangued the assembled regiment on the enormity of Somerville's 

 having dared to write the letter ; and that harangue is justified by the 

 report itself, on the ground that Somerville's letter, (which it designates, 

 wrongly, as a libel,) was especially improper at the time, owing to the 

 great political excitement that then existed, when the regiment was 

 expected to have its services called into action to quell the anticipated 

 popular tumult. 



Again, Somerville states that he was <c privately subjected to a series 

 of interrogatories j" which assertion the court of " enquiry endeavours 

 to blink and bolster, by saying, that the adjutant and serjeant-major 

 were present !" W* will merely ask, is it possible that any soldier would 

 be supposed to giv* answers to interrogatories proposed at a meeting so 

 constituted, without feeling assured that such meeting was strictly " re- 

 gimental," and therefore, private ? And, if this question does not suffice, 

 let us ask, is any portion of that examination included in the report of 

 the court of inquiry ? The fact is, a& every one must know, that such 

 an examination must, in its nature, not only have been a private one, but 

 the awe of the superior must have tended to prejudice the cause of 

 Somerville. 



The court of inquiry, having ratified the proceedings of the court 

 martial, as legal, justifiable, and extremely proper, might, had it been 

 composed of judicious individuals, have there stopped. But instead of 



