Naval courts martial . cruise, the ship takes prizeswhich he helps to win. Is the captain to be allowed torake up the offence three months or more after it wascommitted, and bring the man to a Court Martial,which would pass a sentence very probably carryingwith it forfeiture of fairly earned prize money ? Thecaptains who appeared so obtuse to Lord MacCartneywere, in act, on the side of the men. By adheringeven pigheadedly and pedantically to the letter, theydid what was probably justice. Here again a Court had shown itself resolved toresist pressure. Almost exactly sixteen years before—on the
Naval courts martial . cruise, the ship takes prizeswhich he helps to win. Is the captain to be allowed torake up the offence three months or more after it wascommitted, and bring the man to a Court Martial,which would pass a sentence very probably carryingwith it forfeiture of fairly earned prize money ? Thecaptains who appeared so obtuse to Lord MacCartneywere, in act, on the side of the men. By adheringeven pigheadedly and pedantically to the letter, theydid what was probably justice. Here again a Court had shown itself resolved toresist pressure. Almost exactly sixteen years before—on the 29th July, 1782—another had shown that itcould disregard the manifest wish of no less a man thanRodney. He was then fresh from his great victory offDominica, on the 12th April. It is true that he haddeeply offended many of his captains by not followingup his success with vigour, but he was the commander-in-chief, and after the glorious blow by which he wipedaway the discredits of the American War, was the .^r*. /^. Sir Isaac Coffin CONCLUSION 199 darling of the nation. Rodney had given commissionsas lieutenant to three young gentlemen, Teeling,Oldfield, and Mends, and had appointed them to theShrewsbury. The captain of the Shrewsbury was IsaacCoffin, a most peremptory officer who, in his own case,was by no means meticulous in observing the letter ofthe law. He was at the time ill, and was perhapsexceptionally disposed to snap fiercely. The first ofthese three to present himself to Coffin was Mr Teel-ing. Now Coffin knew perfectly well that Teeling hadonly served for three years on a man-of-war, and hadnot been longer at sea. The law required that beforea lieutenants commission could be lawfully given, therecipient must have been borne on the books of aman-of-war for five years, and in theory, though not inpractice (Coffin knew the distinction between borne andpresent as well as any man), must have served for thattime. He must take the oath of allegiance, and mustpass before
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade191, booksubjectgreatbritainroyalnavy
