time that Mr Morrison's account for pay and bounties remained unsettled. When he was examined upon the very serious charges of withholding the pay and bounties, the same question, in substance, was put to him again; he was asked whether "he were put to any particular inconvenience by Captain Dale's non payment of the sums he had advanced for pay and bounties from the 18th of August to the 20th September;" he answered, "during the latter part of the time I certainly was, and in one of the letters above alluded to" (meaning the letters which he said he had written to me after the 8th September) "but which I know not, I wrote Captain Dale from Newcastle, that in consequence of my expence in travelling about, if he did not send me a remittance I could not go on with paying the party "* Now during the latter part of the time Mr Morrison was absent from his party, and was not advancing any money at all out of his own pocket, and with respect to the money which he had previously advanced, how could he suffer inconvenience by the want of it, without also suffering inconvenience by the want of the marching allowance? He wanted money of me at the same time on two separate accounts; and, according to his evidence, he was put to inconvenience by the want of the money due upon one of these accounts, and to no inconvenience by the want of the money due upon the other: to my plain understanding, the inconvenience, if any, would have resulted from the want of money, generally; and, if So, Mr Morrison must have sustained inconvenience as well by the want of the marching allowance, as by the want of the pay and bounties. I should not have thought it worth while to mention this part of Mr Morrison's evidence, had he not brought it forward himself as a proof of his liberality, whereas it was in fact only one of several instances afforded by Mr Morrison in the course of his examination of an affectation of candour and fairness artfully exhibited upon particular occasions, but very ill according with the general tenor of his testimony. I have now done with Mr Morrison's evidence, and I trust it will appear evident that in laying his correspondence before my Colonel, I pursued towards him the only line of conduct which, as a gentleman, I could pursue, and that his punishment has not exceeded his deserts. Before I conclude, I shall beg leave shortly to advert to what is stated in the proceedings relative to a proposition made to me by the Prosecutor to withdraw his charges, and leave the matter to be settled by a private ARBITRATION. I mentioned this remarkable proposition at the close of my defence, (page 58) and stated my reason for having rejected it. The Prosecutor, in his reply, thought proper to take up this subject again, and, after * See Mr Morrison's Evidence, Q. 28, page 25. mentioning my rejection of his proposition, he went on to state, "that he could only declare that the proposal was made from a sincere wish to consult the feelings of Captain Dale, and to convince him that he (the Prosecutor) had no desire to make the accusation public against him, without his own deliberate acquiescence." It is only necessary to repeat that when this proposition was made I had been four months under arrest, and the matter was consequently nearly as well known to the public as it is at present, to enable the reader to comprehend the bitter irony of this part of the Prosecutor's reply. He further observed that "Captain Dale had chosen to call the proposed settlement a compromise; that the precise offer made to Captain Dale was, that the two field officers of the first Norfolk Regiment should be requested to take the trouble of enquiring into the merits of the question as arbitrators, and that General Williams should be solicited to act as an umpire; and that in the offer of such a compromise as this there could be nothing very disgraceful or humiliating.*" Now in my humble opinion nothing could be more humiliating, and very few things more disgraceful. What had become of all that zeal for the good of the service, which formed the sole ostensible, object of the prosecution? How was the service to be benefited by the conversion of a public prosecution into a private dispute? and how were the arbitrators to be empowered to inflict any punishment whatever upon the offender? The Prosecutor did, it is true, offer a sort of solution of the last question; he proposed that the parties should bind themselves upon their honor to abide by the decision of the arbitrators; or, in plain English, that either the Prosecutor, or myself, or both of us, should be allowed to sneak quietly out of the regiment. But why should a Prosecutor propose to place himself in so degrading a situation? What possible motive but an apprehension that the infamous nature of the prosecution should be discovered, could have induced the Prosecutor to make this proposition? And could any thing but the consciousness of innocence have impelled me to reject it?+ • See Reply, page 73. ↑ On the very day that I rejected this propofition, it was intimated to me, (not by the Profecutor himself, but with the declared intention of inducing me to accede to his proposal,) that Mr Morrison had, previously to that time, put into the hands of the PROSECUTOR, the letters which I had written to him, while we were in the habit of friendly and confidential intercourfe, and that the Profecutor expected by means of these letters to convict me. This, Mr Morrison actually had done. The letters, when the whole of them were read and connected with the evidence, tended most materially to establish my innocence, but this did not alter the nature of Mr Morrison's conduct, There were fome other tranfactions of his, quite as difgraceful as this, but I purpofely abstain from noticing any thing not immediately connected with the trial. The scheme of an arbitration having failed, nothing remained to the Prosecutor but a desperate attempt to procure my conviction, by the means which have been stated; means which have seldom been resorted to in a military court, and which I hope will never be practised any where without bringing disgrace and punishment upon the heads of their contrivers. It only remains to me to assure the public that, though I have been compelled, by a regard to my own honor, to make this appeal, I am not ambitious of being further engaged in a literary controversy, and having, on that very account, published the whole Trial, as well as my correspondence with Mr Morrison, I trust I shall not be expected to notice any future publication from the pen of that person. EDWARD Dale. ERRATUM. Page 78, Trial, 1. 15, 16, for Mr Morrison, read Captain Dale. Proceedings of a general Court Martial, held by order of Major General Moncriffe, commanding His Majesty's Forces in the Eastern District, being thereunto duly authorized by virtue of a Special Warrant from His Majesty. Norman Cross, 7th of May, 1810. PRESIDENT. Colonel F. H. Rigby, East Essex Regiment of Militia. MEMBERS. Lieutenant-Colonel Nelthorp, West Norfolk Lieutenant-Colonel Halton, Derby Major Custance, West Norfolk Major Strode, Hertford Captain Barnham, West Norfolk Captain Every, Derby Captain Burton, West Norfolk Captain Norris, West Norfolk Captain Sayer, West Norfolk Captain Thompson, West Norfolk Captain John White, 4th Dragoon Guards, DEPUTY JUDGE ADVOCATE. The several Members of the Court being duly sworn, and also the Deputy Judge Advocate, Captain Edward Dale, of the Northumberland Regiment of Militia, was brought Prisoner before the Court, and the following charges preferred against him, by Major Shafto John Hedley of the same Regiment. CHARGES. First-" For improperly, while in the command of a recruiting party in Northumberland, with-holding the marching allowances from the officers under his command on the recruiting service, until the month of October, 1809, notwithstanding he had actually received part of the same early in the month of July, and the remainder in the months of August or September, 1809, contrary to his duty as an officer, and to the prejudice of good order and military discipline." Second. For improperly with-holding and neglecting to issue pay due in the months of August and September, 1809, to part of the recruiting party stationed at Hexham, in Northumberland, under the command of Lieutenant Morrison, then under the command of Captain Dale, on the recruiting service, un'til the latter end of September, or thereabouts, notwithstanding he had drawn for and received the same, and knew such party was without pay during the before-mentioned period, contrary to his duty as an officer, and to the prejudice of the service, and of good order and of military discipline." Third." For improperly with-holding in the months of August and September, and neglecting to remit or pay to Lieutenant Morrison, who was then under his command, on the recruiting service, in Northumberland, the bounties for men enlisted by Lieutenant Morrison, during that period, for the payment of which he had then money in his hands, contrary to his duty as an officer, and to the prejudice of good order and military discipline." Fourth." For improperly keeping an account current with the Pay Serjeant of his company, in the counties of Sussex · and Suffolk, from April, 1807, to June, 1809, and neglecting to settle such account with his Pay Serjeant, and pay the balances due at proper intervals and periods; and for remaining in debt to such Pay Serjeant, during the whole or the greater part of the above period, to the discredit of the service, and of the regiment in which he held a commission as captain, contrary to his duty as an officer, and to the prejudice of good order and military discipline." The prisoner, Captain Edward Dale, being called on by the court, pleads NOT GUILTY to the charges preferred against him. THE PROSECUTOR'S ADDRESS. Mr President, and Gentlemen of this Honorable Court. I trust you will give me your credit when I assure you that I have not been the voluntary or unsolicited mover of the present prosecution. It becomes necessary to state this, because as I long ago thought proper to desist from all intimacy with Captain Dale, I am aware that personal pique will most probably be |