not return,’ said the Consul. ‘Before he left, he told me he was going to Cadiz. He knew people there from whom he felt he could raise the bail-bond. I inferred from the way that he spoke that his sole reason for making this journey was to expedite the hearing before this court…’
Sprague paused, the defence appearing prepared.
‘Like Mr Cornwell, had I even suspected that it was not Captain Winchester’s intention to return, then I would have done everything to persuade him against such a thing.’
‘Yet it was you to whom he wrote?’ said the judge, making the doubt obvious.
‘The letter was the first intimation I had that he would not be coming back. It accompanied money sufficient for the bond.’
‘What reason did Captain Winchester give for fleeing?’ demanded the judge.
The question surprised the Consul. He frowned, unsure what response the man wanted.
‘I have already communicated the letter to you, My Lord…’ he said doubtfully.
‘And I believe that others in this court as inconvenienced as I have been should have the benefit of that information,’ said Cochrane.
‘Captain Winchester said he feared arrest,’ said Sprague quietly.
‘Arrest?’ prompted the judge.
‘From the letter it appears that Captain Winchester believed he was suspected by this court of certain involvement in the disappearance from the Mary Celeste of some if not all of the crew. He describes the suppositions as preposterous, but says that, so strong did he detect the suspicion to be, he felt it would be impossible for the matter to be fairly considered — ’
‘So he ran away?’
‘He insists that he is a completely innocent man whose continued presence here was achieving nothing. He did not leave without ensuring that he had complied with every request made to him by the court.’
Cochrane’s demand that the contents of the letter be made public had initially surprised the Attorney-General as greatly as it had startled the American Consul, but now Flood appreciated the move. Such a protracted discussion would guarantee lengthy coverage from the journalists outside, at least three of whom were employed by New York publications. The judge was apparently determined that Winchester should not escape the suspicion and condemnation of the court, even if he had slipped away from its control.
‘Has it been your awareness in the past, Mr Sprague, that innocent men fear courts of law?’ demanded the judge.
The Consul shifted uncomfortably:
‘No, My Lord.’
‘Is it not normally the reaction of guilty men?’
‘Yes, My Lord.’
‘Was Captain Winchester not aware that this was a properly convened court under the jurisdiction of Her Majesty, the Queen of England?’
‘He was aware of that,’ said Sprague, his discomfort increasing.
‘And that British jurisprudence has formed the basis for every judicial system in the world?’
‘That is accepted, My Lord.’
‘So Captain Winchester, a completely innocent man, saw fit to flee a system recognised throughout the world as the fairest that exists?’
‘I do not think Captain Winchester considered the matter as deeply as that,’ said Sprague helplessly.
‘What do you think Captain Winchester did consider?’ pressed the judge.
‘He felt…’ started Sprague, then stopped, realising the risk of impertinence if not contempt in what Winchester had asked him to say. ‘I feel that Captain Winchester acted hastily, without properly considering the fullest implications of his actions,’ he resumed. Admittedly at a low level, his function was nevertheless supposed to be that of a diplomat: and nothing could be achieved by enraging the judge further. ‘He hastily came to the conclusion that he would be inveigled into a situation from which it would be difficult to extricate himself without considerable loss of time. He is adamant that his only function in coming here was to assist the court in its findings and to reclaim the Mary Celeste as its rightful, principal owner. I know he would be deeply distressed at the thought that his actions could be construed as indicating any involvement or culpability in the strange matters that have been occupying this court for the past weeks…’
‘What other interpretation do you imagine that there is, Mr Sprague?’ persisted Cochrane relentlessly.
‘As I have attempted to indicate,’ said the Consul, ‘it was the hasty action of a man not properly considering the outcome…’
Sprague decided that he was doing badly.
‘I have often had occasion to define a crime as the hasty action of a man not properly considering the outcome,’ said the judge.
‘I can only repeat Captain Winchester’s letter to me, in which he resisted such a verdict in the strongest possible terms.’
‘I want the fullest account of the court’s annoyance over what has happened transmitted to your government in Washington,’ said Cochrane. ‘I further intend through the diplomatic means open to me in my own country to inform the American authorities of my severe disapproval of Captain Winchester’s conduct. I do not consider that the behaviour we have witnessed from Captain Winchester can be the behaviour of an innocent man and were this a criminal rather than a civil court, greater powers than this court possesses would be invoked to obtain from Captain Winchester a fuller explanation.’
‘I assure this court that I will communicate its views to the appropriate department in Washington,’ undertook Sprague.
Cochrane nodded, dismissing both consul and lawyer, then straightened at the bench. Briefly his gaze met that of the Attorney-General, but Flood kept his face free of any expression of approval at the man’s outspokenness. The congratulations could come later. Swingeing though the comments had been, the fact remained that the matter was beginning and ending as a civil matter, while they well knew a crime was involved.
‘It is now my function,’ began the judge, ‘to turn to the purpose for which this court was convened, to adjudicate upon the claim for salvage entered by the captain and crew of the British brigantine Dei Gratia.’ As was the normal custom, Cochrane had written out his formal judgment and every few moments his eyes dropped to his prepared statement.
‘Within the last few minutes, you have heard me express the court’s strongest disapprobation of the behaviour of Captain Winchester.’
He stopped, looking to see if Sprague were taking a note of what he was saying. A notebook lay open upon the table in front of the American Consul.
‘It is my intention to continue to express displeasure, this time with people who at least showed sufficient responsibility to remain in court for the adjudication. This enquiry takes the gravest view of the action of the Dei Gratia master, Captain David Reed Morehouse, in despatching from the jurisdiction of this court his first mate, whose continued presence was considered vital to a satisfactory conclusion of this case, being as he was the person most concerned with the salvage of the Mary Celeste…’ Briefly his eyes dropped to his judgment: ‘… it is the feeling of this court that despite every attempt and effort on the part of counsel present, there remain a large number of unanswered questions regarding this matter. Whether those questions will ever be satisfactorily explained can only be a matter of conjecture. I consider I would be failing in my duties as adjudicator of these events if, however, I ignored those unanswered questions and the suspicions to which they give rise in any enquiring, investigative mind.’
Coming to the vital section of his pronouncement, Cochrane was staring directly at the Dei Gratia captain and mate. The men looked strangely similar, beards spread before them, hands held against their knees, both frowning slightly in their anxiety fully to comprehend what the man was saying.
‘Early in this hearing,’ Cochrane continued, ‘it was established that the aggregate value of the cargo and hull of the Mary Celeste was in the region of $51,000. It was further established, I believe in a reply to a question from the Attorney-General, that although every case has to be judged upon its individual merits, as this case is certainly being judged, there is in maritime circles an anticipation of salvage awards. Sometimes, bearing in mind the hazards to which salvors go to bring an empty vessel safely to port, that award can be as high as 40 per cent…’
