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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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64 “To steady us a bit, let us recur to the facts.- In war-time at sea a man-ofwar’s-man strikes his superior in grade, and the blow kills. Apart from its effect, the blow itself is, according to the Articles of War, a capital crime. Furthermore-” “Ay, Sir,” emotionally broke in the officer of marines, “in one sense it was. But surely Budd purposed neither mutiny nor homicide.” “Surely not, my good man. And before a court less arbitrary and more merciful than a martial one, that plea would largely extenuate. At the Last Assizes it shall acquit. But how here? We proceed under the law of the Mutiny Act. In feature no child can resemble his father more than that Act resembles in spirit the thing from which it derives-War. In His Majesty’s service-in this ship indeedthere are Englishmen forced to fight for the King against their will. Against their conscience, for aught we know. Tho’ as their fellow- creatures some of us may appreciate their position, yet as navy officers, what reck we of it? Still less recks the enemy. Our impressed men he would fain cut down in the same swath with our volunteers. As regards the enemy’s naval conscripts, some of whom may even share our own abhorrence of the regicidal French Directory, it is the same on our side. War looks but to the frontage, the appearance. And the Mutiny Act, War’s child, takes after the father. Budd’s intent or non-intent is nothing to the purpose. “But while, put to it by these anxieties in you which I can not but respect, I only repeat myself-while thus strangely we prolong proceedings that should be summary-the enemy may be sighted and an engagement result. We must do; and one of two things must we do-condemn or let go.” “Can we not convict and yet mitigate the penalty?” asked the junior Lieutenant here speaking, and falteringly, for the first. “Lieutenant, were that clearly lawful for us under the circumstances, consider the consequences of such clemency. The people” (meaning the ship’s company) “have native-sense; most of them are familiar with our naval usage and tradition; and how would they take it? Even could you explain to them-which our official position forbids-they, long moulded by arbitrary discipline have not that kind of intelligent responsiveness that might qualify them to comprehend and discriminate. No, to the people the Foretopman’s deed, however it be worded in the announcement, will be plain homicide committed in a flagrant act of mutiny. What penalty for that should follow, they know. But it does not follow. Why? they will ruminate. You know what sailors are. Will they not revert to the recent outbreak at the Nore? Ay. They know the well- |
