Star.
London, England, 1821-10-05 00:00:00

FOURTH CHARGE.

For conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, in com-
promising scandalous disputes, in which he (Lieut.-Col. Aber-
nethie) has been engaged with junior officers, more particularly
with lieut. Pollock, on or about May or June 1816, who on
that occasion threatened to horsewhip him.

Upon which charges the Court came to the following de..
cision, viz.
The Court, having duly considered the evidence on the part
of the prosecution, and what the prisoner, Lieut.-Col. Thomas
Abernethie, had to offer in his defence, is of opinion that the first
charge is not proved, and does therefore acquit him of this charge.
The Court is of opinion the second charge is not proved, it
appearing in es idenee that the prisoner, while he denied having
heard the particular expressions " impertinent frllow," and
" damned impertinent fellow," admitted with the same breath
language equally degrading:and that he evinced no intention
either to conceal or soften down the offensive expressions he had
received front Lieut.-Col. Savage; the Court does therefore ac-
quit him of palpable or intentional falsehood.
The third charge not being cognizable before a Court Martial,
the charge was not entered into by the Court.
The Court is of opinion that the prisoner is not guilty of the
fourth charge; and that the charge, absolutely destitute of proof,
is urrotiJus and malicious, and does therefore acquit him.
The Court feels itself imperatively called upon to comment
upon parts of the matter which has appeared during the course
of the trial; and wishes to express, in the strongest manner, its
disapprobation of the offensive language which took place in the
Marine Library, and which, for so long a period, was suffered
to remain without explanation or honourable adjustment.
Before closing its proceedings, the Court thinks itself impe-
riously called upon to refer to the general conduct of the prose-
cutor on this occasion and is of opinion, it canuot, in terms suf-
ficiently strong, convey its reprehension of his bringing forward
circumstances said to have passed at periods so remote, as Charges
against an Officer, when nothing appears to the Court to have pre-
vented the prosecutor from preferring such Charges at an earlier
period, had he been actuated by zeal for his Majesty's serviee,or
Jealousy of the honour of the Marine Corps ; the Court therefore
thinks it expedient to record on its proceedings the high disappro-
bation it entertains of the general conduct on the part of the pro.
iecution ; nor can the Court conceive that the prosecutor acted
under a proper regard for his own character, in bringing for-
Ward these charges against Lieutenant-Colonel Abernethie, at
the very moment when he (Lieutenant-Colonel Abernethie) was
demanding reparation for reiterated and, rorent injuries • for if
Lieutenant-Colonel Savage conceived that Lieutenant-Colonel
Abernethie was out of the pale of demanding reparation, these
reiterated attacks were both unjust end unmanly.
The said Charges'and Sentence, with a Minute of the Pro-
ceedings, having been laid before his Royal Highness the Prince
Regent, by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, his
Royal Highness-has been pleased, in the name and on the behalf
of his Majesty, to approve of the finding of the Court.
His Royal fighuess, taking into his consideration, however,
the animadversion of the Court upon the offensive language

which took place in the Marine Library at Woolwich, and
which, for so long a time, was antlered to remain without expla-
nation or honourable adjustment, and which offt•nsive language,
it appears by the evidence, was first addressed by Lieutenant-
Colonel Savage to Lientenant-Colonel Abernethie, his Royal
Highness feels it to be due to the good orda and character of
the Royal Marine Corps, to take notice of Lieutenant-Colonel
Abernethie's conduct, by removing him to the permanent Half-
pay of the Corps.
And his Royal Highness, further taking into consideration the .
conduct of Lieut.-Colonel Savage, and concurring in the strong
censure pronounced upon it by the Court-Martial, is pleased
to direct that the name of Lieutenant-Colonel Savage shall be
removed altogether from the List of Offliers of the Royal
Marines.
And his Royal Highness is further pleased to direct, that the
Charges and the Sentence of the Court, and his Royal High-
ness's pleasure thereon, shall be communicated to each of the
Divisions of Royal Marines, and entered in the General Order
Books thereof.

By command of the Lords
(Signed)
(COPY.)
kavßeMarine Barracks, Plymouth, Aug. .1, 1821.
tecived this day from the Officers of the Ply-
mouth Division under my command, the accompanying Memo-
rial, addressed to the Bight Honourable the Lords Commis-
sioners of the Admiralty, which I forward to you, in order to its
being laid before the Hoard for their Lordships' gracious consi-
deration. I beg to add, that the assembling of the Officers for
this occasion had my sanction, and the prayer of the Memorial
has my concurrence. At the same time, in union with the Me-
morialists, I hold it to be a duty attached to my situation to re-
cord my own view of the marked distinction which exists be-
tween the case of lieutenant-Colonel Savage and that of Lieute-
nant Colonel Abernetbie, and most respectfully I solicit their
Lordships attention to it. The infirmity of purpose, or error of
judgment, which caused one party to wait for three years before
he demanded honourable satisfaction, and the other to refuse it
when called upon (although the whole period was marked on
the side of Colonel Savage by every aggravating circumstance
which studied, malignity could invent or pursue), invokes my
pity for both those Officers. But the man who could subse-
quently plan, and bring forward with deliberation, charges be-
fore a General Court-Martial, through which he aimed to effect
the ruin of him whom he had thus previously injured, has my
' unqualified execration. W. TENCH, Lieut.-Gen.
J. W. Croker, Esq.

icrs of the Admiralty,
J. W. CUOKEIt.

To the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of the Ad-
miralty, the Memorial of Officers of his Majesty's Royal
Marine Forces at Plymouth, 4th August, 1821, humbly
sheweth,
That your Memorialists, in the recent appointments which have
taken place on the promotion and removal of some of their bro-
ther officers, have viewed with much pain and concern the re-
appointment of Lieutenant-Colonels Savage and Abernethie to
full pay, after the marked and disgraceful conduct as set forth in
a Memorandum from your Lordships, bearing date the 23d Janu-
ary, 1818. Tour Nlemorialists, in drawing your Lordships atten-
tion to the docuinent stated, in which Lieutenant-Colonel Aber-
nethie is placed by our most gracious Sovereign (then acting in the
name and on behalf of his late Majesty) on the permanent list of
haff-pay, and Lieuteoant-Colonel Savage at the same time re-
moved from the list of officers, cannot, after the public manner
in which those officers were so disposed of, and for such conduct
as is therein set forth, but most respectfully approach your Lord-
ships with a conviction, that on a reconsideration of the Memo-
random alluded to, they will be found to have so far disgraced
their characters, although not to an equal extent, as appears by
the distinction of punishment commanded by his Majesty, as Offi-
cers and Gentlemen (which opinion his most gracious Majesty ap-
pears most fully to have entertained), as entirely to preclude their
ever serving in the Corps of Royal Marines; and in soliciting
which your Memorialists have no other object than their own
characters, and the honour and respectability of their corps, and
for its continuance.
Your Memorialists, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
Signed by all the Officers of the Division at Quarters, and by
those of other Divisions, who removed front hence in con-
sequence of the late arrangements.

(COPY.)
Admiralty Office, August 8, 1821.
Sin—Having laid before my Lords Commissioners of the
Admiralty your letter of the sth inst. and the Memorial which
accompanied it, I am commanded by their Lordships to express
to you their surprise and displeasure at the Hue of conduct which
you have thought proper to adopt, in sanctioning so improper an
interference on the part of the fficers of the Plymouth Divi-
sion of Royal Marines, as is set forth in the Memorial.
You will perceive by the inclosed Copy of a Letter from Lieu-
tenant-General Sir Henry Bell, the Colonel Commandant of the
Corps, resident in London, that their Lordships took those steps
which they considered most proper, to ascertain how tar it might
have been their duty to have submitted any opinion to his Ma-
jesty, adverse to his gracious intentions towards Lientenant-Co-
lona. Savage and Abernethic ; but their Lordships did not by
ally means consider it necessary to inquite the particular feelings
of the Plymouth Division of Royal Marines, respecting au oc-
currence at Woolwich; nor would their Lordships, under any
circumstances, have sanctioned the calling a meeting of mostly
Junior Officers, to pronounce ou the character of their Seniors,
or to decide on the propriety of admitting. such Seniors to take
their proper rank and command in the Corps.
Their Lordships therefore desire me to express to you their
entire concurrence in the view taken by Lieutenant-General Sir
Henry Bell, of the extreme impropriety of the Officers of the
Plymouth Division of rlarines, in signing the Memorial which
you transmitted ; and their Lordships still more deeply deplore,
that an Officer of your rank should have so far forgotten his sta-
tion and his duty, as not only to have encouraged this proceed-
ing on their parts, and have for:Tarded to their Lordships so im-
proper a document, but also to have himself written a letter
worded in a style even more indecent and more incorrect than
that of the said !Memorial ; and from which their Lordships are
led to believe that you are but imperfectly acquainted with the
transactions to which you have so improperly adverted.
My Lords therefore direct me to convey to you their particu-
lar censure for your conduct on this occasion, and to desire you
to inform the Officers who signed the Memorial, of their Lord-
ships displeasure at their uncalled-fur interference.
And I am further directed to convey to you their Lordships'
commands, that on the receipt hereof, yon forthwith give up the
command of the Plymouth Division of Royal Marines (should
Colonel Vinicombe not have arrived), to whatever Officer of the
Division on the spot may be next in seniority to yourself.
I am, Sir, &c. &c.
Lieutenant-General Tench. JOHN BARROW.
(COPY).
Cadogan-place, Aug. ; 1821.
Si have received your letter of this day's date, ;closing a
letter from Lieut.-Gen. Tench, accompanied by a Memorial from
the Officers of the Royal Marines at Plymouth, and signifying to
me the commands of my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty,
.to take the same into my" consideration, and to report to their
Lordships thereon. I have to request that you will be pleased
to relate to their Lordships the tollowiug circumstances. On
the 23d of July last, having, in obedience to the commands of
Lord Melville, waited upon his Lordship, in company with
Lieutenant-General Lewis, his Lordship inquired of Lieute-
bant-General Lewis, as Commandant of the Woolwich Divi-
sion, whether he conceived there would be any disinclination on
the part of the officers of the corps to Lieutenant-Colonels Sa-
vage and Abernethie, who had formerly belonged to the Wool-
wich Division, returning to do duty amongst them? lieute-
nant-General Lewis, in reply, distinctly stated to Lord Mel-
ville, that he was convinced there could not be any; that, on
the contrary, Lieutenant-Colonel Savage, though now on half-
pay, and the officers of course not called upon to associate with
him, was nevertheless constantly in the barracks with them, on
terms of friendship and intimacy.
Lieutenant-General Lewis and myself, at the same time, fur-
her stated to his Lordship, that Lieutenant-Colonel Abemethie
was also much noticed and respected by many of the oldest ofg-
'

eel., of the corps, and that we conceived there could be no ob.
jection to the restoration of his rank.
Under these circumstances, it is with the deepest regret that
I have read the letter MIS memorial from the officers of the
Plymouth Division, which has this day been referred to me by
their Lordships orders; and I cannot help submitting it as my
opinion, that the officers of this division have acted without due
discretion, in thus unadvisedly stepping forward and appusi-g
themselves to the act of grace which his Majesty bas been
pleased to extend to Lieutenant-Colonels Savage and Aherne-
Wet after those officers had suffered a very considerable length.
of punishment for the error fornierly committed by them. I
cannot help further remarking. that it appears extraordinary
that the objections to these officers should proceed from the
officers of a division who cannot be so well acquainted with ad
the circumstances of the ease' as the officers of the division
where the transaction occurred, and who have made r.o objec-
tion to their restoration.

Since I have received your letter, in order to prevent any mis-
apprehension, I have again seen I.ieutt•nant.General I.ewis, who
entirely concurs with me in his recoilectioiref what I have stated
to have passed between Lord Melville and ourselves on the oc-
casion above alluded to, and be has again repeated to me the
same sentiments on the subject with regard to these officers.
1 am, Sir, Ate.
John Barrow, Esq. dte. 11BN1tY BELL, Lieut.-Gen.
(COP Y).
Royal Marine Barracks, Ilyinouth, Aug 18, 182.1.
Bra—llaving intimated in a late public letter to yon, my in.
tention of submitting, for the consideration of the Right lion.
the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, certain observa-

Liens, framed with a view to the explanation of the part I took,
in forwarding the Memorial, dated on the sth instant, from the
officers of, and at this division of Royal Nlatines, with my ac-
companying letter on that occasion, to the Board; I now beg
leave, with the most profound respect, to pffer, through you,
to the attention of their Lordships, what follows :—I presume
* believe, that If information had reached the officers whose
•signaturesare subjoined to the Memorial, and myself, that the
restoration of Lieutenant-Colonels Savage and Ahernethie to
the serving corps, was an " Act of Grace," emanating from the
King, and that this extension of Royal clemency had proceeded,
from a representa.ion of the Board of Admiralty, founded on
tie Report made to their Lordships by • Lieutenant-General
Sir henry Bell and Lieutenant-General Lewis ; in such a case
(whatever might have remained the state of private opinion re-
-1 lative to those officers) not any public manifestation of the senti.
mews of the Memorialists would have gone forth, and 1 myself
should have equally refrained from addressing their Lordshipi
oo this subject. This leads me to lament that the circumstances
I have stated were not made known here, as certainly such a de:
elaration of the opinion of Sir Henry Bell and Lieutenant-Gen.
Lewis, respecting Lieutenant-Colonels Savage and Ahernethie,
aiippears 'in the copy of their letter transmitted to me, came
totally unexpected upon every officer of this division ; and con-
sequently, although it may seem to speak the voice of the corps,
such a document can hardly be considered as conveying the
sense of more than one of the Marine Divisions. _ _

With reference to that passage of your letter to me, which re-
marks that scarcely one of the officers who signed the memorial
was senior in rank to Lieutenant-Colonel Savage, I have to ob-
serve, that the signatures of Major-General Cole and Colonel
Mackintosh (both senior), were not deemed admissible, frau
those officers having quitted the serving corps; and with the ex-
ception of them, not any senior officer to Lieut.-Col. Savage
holds an appointment at Plymouth. Surprise on the part of their
Lordships senile to be excited at a representation of the eligibi-
lity of the officers in question proceeding from a division which,
from local causes, it has been presumed, was least likely to be
apprised of the circumstances that passed publicly at the Cours-
Martial held on Lieutenant-rolonel Abernethie. But can it be
matter of wonder to their Lordships, that so memorable an
event as the trial of an officer of high rank, followed by the pro-
mulgation of the sentence, and that too accompanied with a
• Masxostarronat," which. by the express command of the Board
of Admiralty, was inserted in the records of the Four Divisions,
should occasion an extensive correspondence, and promote much
interchange of opinion in every branch of the corps? and this
presumption being admitted, in connection with the frequent
removals of officers front one division to another, by which

means members of the Court. Martial are found serving at the
Marine Headquarters at this moment, will, perhaps, furnish A
sufficient reason why the officers of this Division did not consider
themselves as less competent than those of any other, to form
judgment, and lay it, respectfully,before their Lordships.
1 now, with all possible deference, entreat permission to offer,
for their Lordahips' gracious consideration, a few words with
relation to the part I individually acted on this occasion, in
which my feelings, from the view their Lordships have taken
of my letter, and their consequent indignation thereupon, have
been so severely wbunded, premising what I am about to sub-
mit with my. solemn declaration, that no motives of personal
hostility have ever existed against Lientenant-Colonel Savage on
my side, and that the principle on which my conduct was framed
was singly that of maintaining the dignity and reputation of the
corps, in which I have served forty-six years, consistently with
the high relative station I held in it. My view of the subject
may have been erroneous; but I dare venture to affirm, that
neither the moral principles of a man, the liberal (:clings of $
gentleman, nor the honourable sentiments generated by a mili-
tary education, have been departed from by me. When the
re-appointment to active service of lieutenant-Colonels Savage
and Abernethie was communicated to me, I could not avoid re.
ferring to the Divisional Register of all puddle transactions, to
which the sentence of the Court-Martial, 4111.1 the command of
the King, pronouncing the punishment of both these officers,
stand recorded. Here I found the conduct of Lieut.-Colonel
Savage stigmatised by the Court, and confirmed by the mandase
of my Sovereign, as " UNJUST Ann UNMANLY." Certainly I any
not aware of the English language containing epithets which can
*sore forcibly impeach both the head and heart of the man to
whom they are applied than these do. Upon themi as a public
document, I conceived I had a right to farm my judgment, al-
though it would not become me to enter upon any defence of it
here, differing, as I have unhappily done, from their Lordships
on this point, and wishing, as I do, to steer clear of aught which
could be interpreted into matter of fresh aggression. Sentiments
of respect, associated with feelings of regret and compassion, foe
the excitement of a warm temper, if stimulated by honourable
motives will not be found. wanting in the Board to which lam
addressing my cause. It was the lot of hint who now presents
himself before their Lordships, to enter the Royal Slarines at
a period when the honour and respectability of the corps was
cherished with enthusiasm by its old officers, and inculcated.
with earnestness on the minds of the youths who joined quar-
ters; and the first military impression stamped in my bosom re-
mains uneffacetL How many noble effects have I not witnessed
springing from this Esprit de Cops. It has again and again ci.i.
mated the Marine of every rank and class to forget his situation
of comparative depression, whenever the cause of his King and
Country demanded his exertions on the deck or in the field.
There are certain principles influencing Woman conduct, which,
though not abstractedly just, it would be dangerous for autho-
rity to tamper with, and unwise to wish destroyed; a watch.
Ad jealousy over the interests of the profession they are mem.
bers of, and a quick sensibility to any invasion of its characts r,
cannot be too highly milted, or too dearly cherished, by all
military bodies ; -they lay the foundation of all that it disinte-
rested and elevated in the minds of soldiers. Annihilate them,
and what is the substitute? Petty selfish competition'', as de-
structive to the respectability and harmony of every corps
wherein they exist; as injurious to the service of our country.
Under the full force of this early imulanted principle, I do out
scruple to acknowledge, and I claim the benefit of such annc-
knowledgment from their Lordships, that if too large a portion
of the high and honourable spirit, which is my pride, kindled in
my bosom on this occasion (principally) of Lieutenant-Colonel
Savage's restoration to the serving corps, yet was the purpose I
contemplated, whilst remonstrating against it, of such a cha-
racter as may defy accusation or reproach ; to the severity with
which it has been visited, it is my duty to bow from Isencefor.
ward in respectful silence. I have the honour, &c.
W.ITKIN TENcii, Lieut.-General.
. John Barrow, Esq. &c. &c. ace.