LETTERS.
118
[1785.
these Islands , that they may take such measures as appear tothem proper upon this occasion.
I am. Sir, with every respect,
Your most obedient and very humble Servant,
1 am very sorry it is in my power to say that at all theIslands on this Station, the illegal act of granting Registers toAmericans, Subjects of the United States , is carrying on withgreat confidence.
TO JOHN MOUTEAt, ES<1., COMMISSIONER OF THE NAVY AT
[The points discussed in this, and in the following Letters, were of much pro-fessional interest, viz. Whether a Captain holding the situation of Commissionerof the Navy was entitled to the same rank and authority as if he had been on fullpay in command of one of the King’s Ships? and, whether it was in the powerof a Commander-in-Chief to give him such authority, and to hoist a Broad Pen-dant ?
Captain John Moutray, the Commissioner at Antigua , was made a Post-Cap-tain on the 28th of December 1758, and was by twenty-one years Nelson ’s seniorOfficer. It appears from Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Hughes’ Letter to the Admi-ralty of the 14th February of 1785, complaining of Captain Nelson ’s conduct inrefusing to receive orders from Commissioner Moutray, that he had authorisedCaptain Moutray to hoist a Broad Pendant in his absence from Antigua ; that onthe 29th of December 1784, ho had given an orderto all Captains “ in his absence“ or that of a senior Officer to Captain Moutray, to conform themselves to his“ directions, and to apply to ;um for all necessary orders relating to the duty and“ business of Uie Port, so far as the Ship under their several commands might be“ concerned, and to show him all the usual marks of respect due to an Officer“ wearing a Distinguishing Pendantand that on the 6th of February 1785, Com-missioner Moutray issued a written order to Nelson , to put himself under his com-mand. Nelson , it seems, was not the only Captain who doubted the Commissioner’sauthority.
Though inquiries have been made to ascertain in what manner the Admiraltydisposed of the general question, their Lordships’ decision has not been found ;but they informed Nelson that he ought to have submitted his doubts to theCommander-in-Chief on the Station, instead of having taken upon himself“to control the exercise of the functions of his Appointment.” It is, how-ever, presumed that Captain Nelson ’s view of the subject was perfectly cor-rect *, and that unless (as is now the practice) a Commissioner of the Navy be placed on full pay , by being appointed to the command of a Ship, by theAdmiralty , he is to all intents and purposes an Officer on half-pay; and thatno Admiral commanding a Squadron or Fleet has the power to place him onfull-pay) or to give him his Naval rank, and still less to authorize him to hoist aBroad Pendant. Captain Wallis, then First Lieutenant of the Boreas, wrote a