Star.
London, England, 1829-10-10 00:00:00

TROY 11R. CROCUR TO UK EDWARD CODRINGTOIL

•' Atlniralty-office, July r.. 0,
" answer to your letter of yesterday's date, I am com-
manded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to remind
you, that it was tit consequence of your nava% expressed, in an offi-
cial letter, your dibapprobatam of Capt. Dickenson's conduct in ?t
battle of Navario, that their Lordships called upon you to explain
the caties of that disapprobation ; that your answer conveyed
charges against :hat Officer which tbeir Lordships felt could not
justice to him be irtt untitvratigatrtl be:ore a Court 'Martial, mot..
especially as he distinctly denies all the imputations alleg,
against him.

•' Their Lordships therefore command me to acquaint you, that
they deem it incumbent upon you to make good your said charge.
against Capt. DickenAni, and 1 am to repeat to you their Lord-
ships' desire to know whether you are ready to proceed to the
trial with the witnesses who are at hand, or whether you deem the
presence of those now ali,ent at Bermuda and the ilediterra•
nean as inwspen•ably nece.sary.—l am, Sir, &c.
(Signed) " J. W. CROKER.—

ir-7 J.--
,

r. pv of a letter tome of the ilith of December, 1927, to show that
Cl l.:. Dickenson received the Russian Order of St. Ann in con-
• i!uence of his own mis-statement.
" Adverting to the absence of the master and others, I beg
leave moat respectfully to repeat the suggestion in my former
fetter, that the Deputy Judge Advocate has means which I
..annot command, of ascertaining how far the evidence of those
officers can be compensated for the presence of others nn the
cpnt.
" In conclusion, I trust I may be permitted to lament the ne-
.-et.ity which their Lordships have felt of exposing to public loves-
titan the conduct of a British alter when serving in con)unction
..,1„1 the squadrons of two foreign nations, and more particularly
Ow their having done so timid have originated in my anxiety
to enable them to appropriate justly the highly-prized honorary dis-
t :ions committed to their distribution.—l have the honour, kc.
(Signed) " EDWARD CODRINGTON."

?ROM DIR. CRONES 70 SIR ItiKARD CODILIIIO7OI'.
" Admiralty Office, Aug. 3,1829.
Nit —I have received and communicated to my Lords Com-
• loners of the Admiralty your letter of yesterday's date on the
,I)jvct of the Court Martial on Captain Dickenson, and am corn-
- ....i,led to state to you in reply, that the assurance stated to have
'urn given to you by the First Lord of the Admiralty—namely,
• •h,.t having given the Board all the information you were pos-
•etsed of, you should not be called upon to take any further part
in the transaction, had reference, as is obvious it must have had,
only to the objection you felt to appear in the distinct character
of prosecutor. His Lordship did not, and could not, have meant
to release you from the responsibility of substantiating your own
allegations by your own evidence, or that of such other persons
you might have reason to suppose were enabled to support them.
Not having asked for a Court Martial on Captain Dickenson,
you could not, of course, be held bound to undertake the distinct
character of a prosecutor; but having made charges against that
officer which, in their Lordships' opinion, require investigation at
a Court Martial, it is incumbent on you to establish the truth of
the charges which you thus advanced, and which their Lordships
had not heard from any other quarter ; and although it will be the
duty of the Judge Advocate to arrange the evidence with which he
may be furnished in the mode most likely to elucidate the truth,
neither the Judge Advocate nor their Lordships can decide as to
what evidence may be necessary to establish your view of the case.
It therefore remains for you either to take such measures, in com-
munication with the Judge Advocate, as may tend to substantiate
your charges against Captain Dickenson, or, by declining to do
so, leave their Lordships at liberty to consider Captain Dickenson's
conduct as free from all imputation, and to treat him accordingly.
•' And, finally, In order to bring this torrespondence to a close,
their Lordships desire that you will distinctly state whether you
are willing that the trial should proceed under their Lordships
view as above stated of your " position," and if so, whether you
think the attendance of the absent ',fineness so indispensable as to
require the postponement of the trial until their arrival. In the
event of your not stating your willingness that the trial should pro-
ceed on the understanding above-mentioned, their Lordships will
feel that they have no alternative but at once to adopt the course
stared In the latter part of the preceding paragraph.—l am, Sir, atc.
(Signed) " J. W. CROKER."

FROM SIC EDWARD CODRINGTON TO MR. CROICRR.
"Elton-square, sth August, 1829.
" Sia,—My inability to reconcile certain expressions in your
letter of the 3d, with the fact admitted in it of my not being the
prosecutor of charges against Captain Dickenson, induced me again
to hate recourse to the First Lord of the Admiralty. And his
Lordship having condescendingly explained, that the real meaning
of the i oard is, that they require my hen judgment under the
circumstances, whether or not their desire to do justice both to
Captain Dickenson and the public service is likely to be obtained
by the trial proceeding without waiting for the return to England
of the master, surgeon, and signal midshipman of the Genoa, I
with great deference submit my opinion, that it is best the trial
should not be delayed by the absence of these officers.
" I have already observed, that the Deputy Judge Advocate
may perhaps ascertain means of making up for the absence of those
cfficers. But it is right to mention, that the Leveret, with Mr.
Giles on board, is, I am told, now on her way to England.
" Even, however, at the risk of failure in establishing such im-

portant allegations, I use the liberty your letter opens to me to
say, that according to my view of what is most beneficial to the
interests of the public service, no further delay in bringing to a
close the question of Captain Dickenson's conduct is advisable.
Although I have expressed my anxiety that nothing emanating
from my feelings as to the honorary distinctions in question,
should have produced a Court Martial on Captain Dickenson at
this protracted period. I do assure their Lordships, that since it
has pleased them to come to a differeut decision, I have no less
Embody to enable them, as far as in me lies, to have the subject
or Captain Dickenson's conduct thoroughly investigated. With
this feeling I now offer my opinion, that the presence of the lion.
Captain Maude, and the officer whom he sent with the Glasgow's
seen to get the Genoa ready, will probably enable the Court to
ascertain the condition of the Genoa under Captain Dickenson's

management; that the question of who wrote or composed the
log-book account of the battle, &c. may perhaps be elicited (torn
Captain Smith and others of the Genoa; and that the chief
tnatswaiti's mate and other petty officers may be able to elucidate
Pie production of the round robin.—" I have. &c.
(Signed) " EDWARD CODRINGTON."