The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-02-01 00:00:00

NAVAL COURT MARTIAL

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The following case of Court Martial has recently attracted
considerable attention. Mr. Elton was a midshipman of her
Majesty's ship Cambridge. While lying off Beyrout last
July, a friend of his, Mr. Begot Crewe Reid, a gentleman of
fortune, travelling in Syria, came on board the Cambridge to
visit him. By an oversight, very common after dinner, the
means of conveying Mr. Reid to the shore were overlooked,
and at an advanced period of the evening it was discovered
that no boat had been sent for him, and he was to leave Bey-
rout for the interior on the following morning. In this di-
lemma, it happened that a Captain Williams, of the Strom-
boli, with whom Mr. Elton had served, was dining on board
the Carnbridge,"and his vessel was lying between the Cam-
bridge and the shore. Mr. Elton accordingly addressed a
respectful note to Captain Williams, requesting him to allow
his boat, after putting him on board his own ship, to convey
Mr. Elton's friend to Beyrout. To this note Captain Wil-
liams did not deign to return an answer. Nettled at this
contemptuous treatment, Mr: Elton wrote an improper letter
to Captain Williams, describing his conduct as " uncourte-
ous and ungentletnanlike,”
and saying that " Captain Wil-
liams screened himself under his rank to offer an insult
which:he would not dare to do were Mr. Elton not his ju-
nior officer." Mr. Elton soon became sensible of his error,
and on the first opportunity wrote a humble apology to Cap-
tain Williams. That did not suffice ; he was, in November
last, tried by a court-martial at Malta, Rear-Admiral Sir
John Louis, President, and was found guilty of treating his
superior officer with disrespect and of provoking him to
quarrel. He was sentenced to be dismissed the naval ser-
vice, and on his arrival in England to be imprisoned six
months in some one of her Majesty's gaols. Mr. Elton was
subsequently confined for twenty-five days on board the
Howe, and then sent as a prisoner to Gibraltar and England.
(Prom the Hampshire Telegraph.)
We cannot for one moment be thought to justify Mr.
Elton ; he clearly was guilty of a breach of an article of war,
which imposes the sentence of death upon the offender, and
therefore this imprisonment for six months may be called
merciful, on the part of his judges but we cannot but ex-
press our regret that Captain Williams, by an exceedingly
uncourteous behaviour, brought the matter on. And we
still more lament that he did not unreservedly and frankly
accept of the honest, well-meant, and gentlemanly apology
offered. lie (Captain Williams) should also have recol-
lected the age of the youngster, the excitement his own ca-
valier conduct had untowardly caused. and should, as doubt-
less he could, have had the order for the court-martial with-
drawn. With regard to the court itself, it has passed an
illegal sentence, and one which will instantly be set aside by
the judges. It will be seen Mr. Elton is sentenced to an un-
defined term of imprisonment, inasmuch as his six months'
imprisonment is to commence on his arrival in England.
Suppose then the Admiralty thought proper to order him to
be kept in Malta harbour, on board the flag ship for twenty
years, he would, in that case, be virtually imprisoned for
life—this the law would not allow. Again, this young gen-
tleman is entitled to his immediate discharge, on the ground
that Captain Barnard, who was a material witness, formed
one of the court, and thus appeared in the character of a
prosecutor and judge—an anomaly which the law will not
admit of. In support of this position we refer to M'Arthur,
and there we find that on the information of the court to try
Admiral Keppel, the Hon. Capt. Walsingham objected to
those officers being rejected from forming part of the court
who had been summoned to give evidence, on which the
case was submitted to the then Attorney and Solicitor Ge-
neral and Mr. Cust, who gave the following opinion on the

case :--

" The usage of the service is very material upon this case,
for naval courts-martial are evidently considered, in the
statutes concerning them, as known and established courts,
consequently, in matters not especially provided for, the
settled course of proceedings must have great weight. That
the characters of witness and judge are not consistent is very
obvious ; and though in the common law of England there is
no challenge to a judge, yet in the only instance we know
where judges were called upon to give evidence in a criminal
case (Kelyng's Rep. 12), it is observed that they sat no more
during the trial. By a strict and literal construction of the
statute of the 22d of Geo. 11., chap. 33, sec. 12, neither the
prosecutor nor the prisoner would cease to be judges. But
this construction would be absurd, and the act must, from
common sense, admit, as the usage is, that officers, to whom
there is a just ground of exception, or who have a just
ground of excuse, shall not be included in the number of
those of whom the court is to be composed; consequently, if
any officer, entitled by his rank to sit, is either prosecutor,
party, or witness, the person next in seniority must supply
his place, and the court, so composed, will be legally held
according to the intent of the act."
Mr. Elton, who came to England in the Hastings, was
removed to London, on Tuesday last, under charge of an ad-
miralty messenger, and we much fear that, during the time
he was in that ship, he, from impetuosity of temper, greatly
committed himself. We mention this merely to account for
any want of mercy which the admiralty might have been dis-
posed, under the circumstances of the case, to have shown
towards him ; still his friends, who are powerful (he being a
nephew of Sir Abraham Elton, of Clifton), have their re-
medy, by application to the Lord Chief Justice.

TOUCH OF BRITISH VALOUR AT THE BATTLE OF VI-
MEIRA.—The left wing of our regiment, to which I still. be-
longed, had nothing to do but to be spectators of the fight,
which took place on the heights of Vimeira. Our situation
was on the slope of an eminence ; we saw our people promptly
advance against the enemy's masses, which were formed in
column, and with which they boldly attempted to break the
British lines. The attempt was vain,- although they were
ably assisted by their ordnance and howitzers, from the latter
of which we saw the balls rise high in the air, and after des-
cribing many segments of a circle, they generally fell between
our people, who were advancing and ourselves. Dense smoke
soon after enveloped the belligerents. It was then we found
our situation irksome ; many of our officers, too high spirited
to be thus shut out of the glowing scene, actually left us and
ran into battle. Those who remained contrived a scheme for
the chance of following them. We heard our bugles sound
the charge ; we heard, or fancied we heard, the enemy's fire
growing stronger, when from the right of us idlers arose the
cry, The colonel is shot !" his lady hearing this rushed
through every restraint down the hill, which was an excuse
fut. many of our men to follow in protection.—Memoirs of a
Serjeant.