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PREFACE.

It is with no ordinary feeling of diffidence that the Author submits to the members of the profession, for whose assistance in the discharge of a most responsible duty it has been undertaken, the following Treatise on the Law and Practice of Naval Courts-Martial.

On foreign stations, where it is impossible to obtain the opinion of the superior authorities on questions that may arise in the course of a trial, a work of reference, adapted to the present time, is universally acknowledged to be wanting. If the Author has succeeded in explaining the form of proceedings required to be observed at courtsmartial, and in directing the attention of the officers composing those courts to the rules of evidence usually followed in criminal jurisprudence, the objects he had in view will be accomplished; and he is not without hope that his endeavours may, in some degree, prove beneficial to the service in general.

The Author avails himself of this occasion respectfully to render his humble acknowledgments to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty for the assistance they have accorded to him at all times during the compilation of this work. He likewise desires to record his grateful thanks to Captain W. A. B. Hamilton, their lordships' secretary, who, amidst the laborious and multifarious duties attached to his important station, has always patiently and courteously aided, with his professional and official knowledge, in the elucidation of many of the intricate subjects noticed in this Treatise.

Chatham, 1850.

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