The effect of this tragical circumstance was the termination of this court-martial, which, however, was followed by another upon Captain Warrington, the inferior officer of Colonel Brereton at Bristol, at the time of the riots. The insertion of the following paragraph, however, which appeared in most of the public prints of the day, will be deemed only just to the memory of Colonel Brereton, before we proceed to the conclusion of this dreadful business:—“The proceedings of the court-martial evidently preyed on his susceptible and humane mind. He is acknowledged by all parties to have been a man of the most kindly and benevolent disposition, and during the eight years he has held the command of the district, was universally respected. He has been a widower for above two years, and has left two daughters, the one five, and the other three years old. He had served abroad, and distinguished himself as a brave and excellent officer. He was fifty years of age, thirty-three of which he had been a soldier; and as a testimony of the regard in which he was held, had received a sword, value two hundred guineas, from his brother officers. There is no doubt his mistaken lenity was influenced by his desire to avoid shedding human blood, and a conviction that he should have been able to pacify the mob without proceeding to those extremities which his duty under the circumstances clearly demanded. It would be ungenerous now, however, to dwell on the errors of one whose fate every feeling heart must deplore.”

It was on Wednesday the 25th of January that the court-martial upon Captain Warrington commenced its proceedings. The charges preferred were three in number. The first imputed that, on the night of the 30th of October 1831, being in personal command of a troop of the 3d Dragoons in the city of Bristol, at the time when the most outrageous and alarming riots prevailed, although required by Mr. Thomas Kington, a merchant of the city, who required his aid, and that of the military under his command, to prevent the firing of the Custom-House, he not only refused to act, but neglected to inform Colonel Brereton, his superior officer, of the information he had received.

The second charge imputed, that the following letter from Mr. Charles Pinney, the mayor, to Colonel Brereton, was delivered to Captain Warrington, which he read, but neither acted upon it nor forwarded it to his commanding officer.

“Bristol, Three o’clock Monday Morning, 31st October 1831.

“Sir—I direct you, as commanding officer of his Majesty’s troops, to take the most vigorous, effective, and decisive measures in your power to quell the existing riot, and prevent further destruction of property.

“I am, &c.
C. Pinney.”

An hour elapsed with the troops inactive after the letter was delivered, and in consequence great mischief was done. Several houses were sacked, and property to a large amount destroyed.

The third charge accused the Captain of neglecting to command his troops in person, and leaving them to the guidance of a young cornet, only sixteen months in the service, while he was absent from his quarters or retired to bed.

The evidence adduced was merely a repetition of those details which had already become perfectly notorious.