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498 HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
prepared bj^ our law officers, which is forwarded in the packet
for your guidance.
" Para. 7. We further desire that no fees be taken upon the
commissions to be so granted to the officers of the Bombay
]\Iarine, as officers of our Army.
" Para. 8. You will observe that the Act of 4 Geo. IV., by
the provisions of which the Marine will hereafter be governed,
requires a larger number of officers to constitute courts-martial,
than it will be practicable to collect from the limited number of
officers belonging to the Marine; the deficiency must in every
case be supplied from among officers of the Army, who are not
to derive any pecuniary advantage from the performance of that
service. You will at the same time perceive, by the Act 4
Geo. IV., cap. 81, sec. 30, that the appointment of courts-
martial must, in all cases, be in the officers commanding His
Majesty's forces."
" Minutes, March 24, 1829.
"In pursuance of the foregoing instructions, the Hon. the
Governor in Council is pleased to direct that the officers of the
Bombay Marine be forthwith embodied into a regiment, to be
called the Marine Corps, under the orders of the Superintendent
of Marine, with the rank of Major-General, into which corps
the Governor in Council is pleased to authorise the Superinten-
dent of the Marine to invite the petty officers and seamen to
enlist."
By this anomalous transformation, the Service became
neither " fish, flesh, nor fowl ;" neither an Army, nor a Navy,
nor even a corps of Marines.
None of the officers had ever cause to complain of the provi-
sion by which military officers—in the event of a paucity of
officers of their own Service—served on their courts-martial.
But the most extraordinary part in this arrangement was, that
the Superintendent, or Major-General, at the head of the new
" Marine Corps," as it is styled in all orders, had neither power
to convene a court-martial of any description, or to approve or
disapprove of the proceedings of any court ; so that in cases of
insubordination in warrant, or petty officers and seamen, he
was obliged to adopt the humiliating course, of applying to
the Commander-in-chief of the Bombay Army to convene a
General Court-martial. Thus we find that on the 2nd of
November, 1829, a court-martial, presided over by Captain R.
Morgan, of the Marine, was convened at Bombay, to inquire
into certain charges for " insubordinate and disrespectful con-
duct" on the part of Lieutenant W. Bowater, of the Hon. Com-
pany's ship ' Elphinstone,' preferred against him by his com-
manding officer. Captain F. W. Greer and that the sentence
of the Court, which was dismissal from the service, was con-
firmed by the Commander-in-chief of the Bombay Army, Lieu-