s u s

s u s

!

livan’s words, in his Treatise on Mar-tial Law) it can neither be consideredas deprivation, or degradation. It doesnot divest an oilicer of liis military dia-meter, though it puts him undera tem-porary incapacity to exercise the dutiesof his station : he still possesses his rank,though he does not reap any immediateadvantage from it. It, in fact, may belooked upon, and considered, as borrow-ed from the ecclesiastical system of ju-risdiction, which admitted suspension asa minor excommunication.

One stubborn difficulty, however,seems to present itself from suspension,and that is the article of pay and allow-ance. For if an officer shall have beensuspended from the exercise of the au-thority annexed to his rank, and to havethe pav of his allowance also suspended,he certainly seems warranted to pleadsuch suspension in bar to the proceed-ings of a court-martial; there beingalways an implied contract, between asoldier and his employer, that in consi-deration of certain pay and advantagesgranted by the one, the other shall sub-mit to military discipline; and the obli-gation being mutual, when one fails inthe performance of his part, he freesthe other from the observance of his;therefore, when the pay, and other ad-vantages, are suspended by the employer,the subjection to military disciplinewould -seem also suspended. But thisdifficulty is easily removed, from thecircumstances of the officer so sus-pended, still holding his commission ;and from his submitting himself to thepunishment which hath been inflictedon his transgression. The latitude ofthU principle hath even been seen togo farther, and under the sanction ofsuch authority, that (since his Majestyhath been graciously pleased to direct,m cases of doubt, members of a court-martial shall be guided by their con-sciences, the best of their understand-ln gs, aud the custom of war in the likeoases) it may be said to establish a pre-cedent, which may with safety be ap-pealed to. We here allude to the trial°f Lord George Sackville , who, at thetune he was put upon the judgment ofa general court-martial, had (so dearar o the honour and reputation of a sol-mer) neither military employ nor com-Mission under his Majesty; and vet hevas deemed entitled to an awful and

solemn investigation of his conduct;application, indeed, having been previ-ously made in his name, and he havingdeclared himself willing to abide by thedecision of the court. In a word, then,it may, withojj-fc risking -too much, beasserted, thtft an officer under suspen-sion, may be considered strictly amenableto martial law for any trespass, or trans-gression, be shall commit. The samewriter observes, in a preceding page,that suspension is a specific punish-ment for a specific crime; but it is apunishment which does not free a manfrom his military obligations. On thecontrary, he is still considered as in theservice; lie holds his commission, andat the expiration of the term of sus-pension, becomes a perfect man again.If therefore, during the continuance ofthis chastisement, he should attempt togo over to the enemy, to desert, or holdtreasonable correspondence, be cer-tainly is, in such cases, to be dealt withaccording to martial law.—Pages 8G,87, and 88, Thoughts on Martial Law.

The late Mr. Tytler , deputy judge ad­ vocate of North Britain, who lias pub-lished an Essay on Military Law, quotesthe case of Lord George Sackville , whenhe treats of officers under suspension,and agrees in every point with the au-thor just referred to. Suspension, heobserves, though it has the effect of de-priving an officer, for the time, of liisrank and pay, and putting a stop to theordinary discharge of liis military du-ties, does not void his commission,annihilate the military character, or dis-solve that connection which exists be-tween him and the sovereign, of whomhe is a servant, lie retains his com-mission, and is, at all times, liable toa call to duty, which would take offthe suspension. See Essay on MilitaryLaw, pages 131, 132.

Suspension of parliamentary pri-vilege. This can only be considered,in a military point of view, as affectingsuch officers, who, being members ofparliament, are entrusted with any spe-cific appointment in the army, andthereby make themselves liable to theMutiny Act, or Articles of War. Wehave had an instance, during the latewar, of a militia colonel, (who was amember of the house of commons )having been put in arrest, tried beforea general courHuartial, cashiered inconsequence