Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 1.djvu/463

 GENEaElAL COUET-MARTIAL. 349 of Enquiry always preceded Courts-martial, yet in the present 1788 instance I was fully satisfied that the warrant I had issued for 27 October, holding the Court-martial was totally done away by the officers having denied the legality of it as far as it respected themselves, and consequently a Court of Enquiry perfectly regular ; and I had reason to suppose that both parties would have consented to such a determination, no other being possible under our present circum- stances. The Court of Enquiry metj and I received the following answer, court signed by the President : — That had the business been referred to ^!f !|^^ them before the application for a Court-martial they might then ^*i**^- have proceeded with the consent of both parties, but that at present they thought themselves precluded from making any enquiry, and only reported that an application from a commanding officer was always deemed a sufficient ground for a General Court- martial, not deeming the warrant legal with respect to themselves as being marine officers, and they now refused to make any enquiry because that warrant had been issued. To order an officer to return to his duty under the same com- manding officer whom he was accused of treating with contempt or disrespect, or to let him remain under arrest until he could be tried in this country, might be attended with very disagreeable drcumstanoes ; for of seventeen officers comprising the detachment five have been put under arrest by their commandant, and are five officers only returned to duty by my order until a sufficient number of ^^Jy' officers to form a General Court-martial can be assembled, as I ***® ^J°'- have in a former letter had the honor of informing your lordship. I therefore ordered the evidence on both sides to be taken by the Judge- Advocate, and intended to send them home with the officer, but before that could be done I received a letter from Major Matter 00m- Ross informing me that the officer had fully satisfied him respect- p"'°***^ ing the charge, and desiring that he might be permitted to with- draw his request for a Court-martial. I therefore ordered the officer to return to his duty.* When the warrant was granted for assembling a General Court- martial, I did not know that an Act of Parliament had been passed for a limited time by which the marines serving in America had Marine been tried ; nor did any officer in the detachment entertain a doubt " ^ • Ante, pp. lie-7. Digitized by VjOOQIC