The Trial of Joseph Wall, Esq, Late Governor of Goree, For the...
The Consequences of Overzealous Flogging [Trial]. Wall, Joseph, Defendant [1737-1802]. The Trial of Joseph Wall, Esq. Late Governor of Goree, For the Wilful Murder of Benjamin Armstrong, A Serjeant of the African Corps, At the Old Bailey, On Wednesday, January 20, 1802. London: Printed by A. Macpherson for J. Lee, [1802]. [ii], 22 pp. Octavo (7" x 4-1/2"). Stab-stitched pamphlet bound in recent quarter calf over textured boards. Moderate toning to interior, occasional light soiling, heavier to first and final leaves, faint dampstain to fore-edge of last three leaves. Rare. $750. * Third stated edition. Wall was an officer in the British Army and Lieutenant Governor of Goree, an island used to control the mouth of the River Gambia. In 1782 he was approached by Armstrong and others about their unpaid salaries. Deciding this was mutinous, and without holding a court-martial, Wall ordered Armstrong and two others to be flogged eight hundred times with a knotted rope. The three men died later from their injuries. Wall was initially charged, but the charges were dropped when the ship carrying the witnesses was believed lost. However, the witnesses appeared in 1784. Wall was arrested, but he managed to escape to the continent, where he married and lived for several years. Later, believing many or all of the witnesses were dead, he wrote to the Home Secretary Thomas Pelham and surrendered himself for trial. He was tried for murder and found guilty. Despite efforts made by a relative of his wife's to obtain a pardon, it was deemed unwise to spare the life of an officer condemned for brutality. No copies of this edition located by OCLC or Library Hub. OCLC locates 3 copies of a different edition with the same title.
Price: $750.00
Book number 72927