his apprentice the certificate of the justice of his having taken such an oath. It is also necessary that the apprentice (if in England) shall have been bound for the full term of seven years, and not above the age of fourteen when bound; and if in Ireland or in the British Isles, for the full term of five years at least, not having been above the age of sixteen when enlisted. In Scotland the period is four years; and the contract or indenture must, within three months after the commencement of the apprenticeship, and before the period of enlistment, have been produced before a justice, and had endorsed thereon a certificate or declaration (signed by him) specifying the date when and the person by whom the indenture was produced.* An apprentice indentured to sea service may be recovered, notwithstanding that he may be bound for a less period than seven, five, or four years. If the master gives up the indenture of apprenticeship within one month after the enlisting of his apprentice, he is entitled to receive to his own use so much of the bounty to the recruit (after deducting two guineas for necessaries), as shall not have been paid to the recruit before notice given of his being an apprentice.† In order to provide for the punishment of apprentices enlisting, no master can claim his apprentice from any corps or recruiting party, except under a warrant from some justice residing near, and within whose jurisdiction the apprentice may happen to be, and before whom he shall be carried. The justice is to inquire into the matter on oath, he is to require the production and proof of the indenture, and that notice of the warrant has been given to the commanding officer, and a copy thereof to some officer or * The contract or indenture must be duly extended, signed, and tested, and binding on both parties, according to Scotch Law, prior to enlistment. Mutiny Act, 1854, sec. 62. non-commissioned officer of the party, and that the person enlisted declared he was not an apprentice. If the officer or non-commissioned officer of the party requires it, the justice is to keep the indenture, and commit the apprentice for trial.* As it often happens that servants hired for a term of service enlist before the expiration of the term, in order that the servant may not lose all his wages, the justice before whom he is attested may adjudge him a reasonable proportion of his wages for his past service. He may make an order for their payment, and if not paid in four days may issue a warrant for a distress on the goods of the master. The method of enlistment thus detailed is under the control of the Adjutant-General. Formerly private persons made a trade of enlisting recruits for the army, and great abuses were committed; but in 1802 it was taken into the hands of the Government, and any person advertizing or opening an office for recruits, without authority from the Adjutant-General or the Directors of the East India Company, is liable to a penalty of £20.† No person can be enlisted to serve Her Majesty or in the East India Company as a soldier for longer than ten years in the Infantry, or twelve years in the Cavalry, Artillery, or Ordnance Corps; to be reckoned from the day on which the recruit is attested, if he has stated himself to be then of the age of eighteen years; or if not, then from the day on which he completes the age of eighteen years, according to the age stated in his attestation.‡ *Mutiny Act, 1854, sec. 62. + Mutiny Act. 10 and 11 Victoria, cap. 37, sec. 1. In expectation of considerable changes in the method of effecting purchases, promotions, and exchanges, before the completion of this volume, those important subjects were purposely omitted from this section; but they will be found detailed fully in the Appendix. SECTION VIII. Discipline of the Army-Courts-Martial. The discipline of the army is maintained by means of the Mutiny Act. annual Mutiny Act. The origin of the first Mutiny Act has been explained before; it was passed in 1689, and with two or three interruptions, has been annually renewed ever since. The provisions of the Act, (originally very confined), have been extended in succeeding Acts, as was from time to time required by the increasing importance of our military establishments and the course of legislative improvement. The Mutiny Act being in force only for a year, the provisions of each Act, unless expressly retained in the succeeding one, become void; though a clause is always inserted by which offences against former Acts are made cognizable by Courts-Martial, if prosecuted within three years from the time of the commission.* War. By the 1st section of this Act the Queen is empowered to Articles of make Articles of War for the better government of Her Majesty's forces, which articles shall be judicially taken notice of by all judges and all courts whatsoever. This power, it will be observed, is restricted to the better government of her Majesty's forces: the operation of the Articles is Mutiny Act, Stat. 17 & 18 Vict. c. 4, 1854. Royal power to erect and constitute tial. confined solely to military persons; and even in respect of them, provision is made that no person shall by such Articles of War be subjected to be transported as a felon, or to suffer any punishment extending to life or limb, except for crimes that by the Act are expressly made liable to such transportation, or to such punishment as aforesaid; nor to be punished in any manner, or under any regulations, which shall not accord with the provisions of the Act. These restrictions, which take away from the authority of the Articles to impose original penalties in cases of capital and grave offences, reduce this power to that of enforcing order, by providing for those minor infractions of discipline, which, though too various and minute to come within the observation of the legislature, would, if unchecked, speedily demoralize the army, and render it the terror, instead of the safeguard of society. The Articles of War are generally regarded by military men as containing the substance of the military code, and as such are frequently read to the troops. It has been usual to include in them all those offences which in the Mutiny Act are punished with death, transportation, or other greater severity. Thus, the Queen apparently assumes a power which in reality resides only in the legislature.* Having noticed the authority given by the Mutiny Act to the Queen to make Articles of War for the better governCourts-Mar- ment of Her Majesty's forces, we come now to the most important power given by the Act, by which, in order to bring offenders against the said Articles of War to justice, the Queen is empowered "from time to time, in like manner as has been heretofore used, to grant commissions under the Royal Sign Manual for holding warrants in the * Vide Essay on Military Law, Law Magazine, 1835, vol. xiv. United Kingdom and Ireland, and to grant commissions to the chief governor of Ireland, the Commander-in-Chief, or persons for the time being commanding any body of the Queen's forces, for convening Courts-Martial, and authorizing any officer under their command to convene CourtsMartial as occasion may require, for the trial of offences committed by any of the forces under the command of the last-mentioned officer."* This power is not varied by the offence having been committed before the officer took his command. This convening officer cannot be below the rank of Field-officer, except in the settlements of the Western Coast of Africa, where he may, though a Captain, convene district or garrison courts.† of Courts As the offences cognizable by the Military Courts vary Classification considerably in their nature and importance, it is necessary Martial. that some courts should be invested with higher powers and more extensive jurisdiction than others. Accordingly, there are four denominations of these courts; namely, General Courts-Martial, District or Garrison Courts-Martial, Detachment Courts-Martial, and Regimental Courts-Martial. This last court, which is the most limited in its powers, must consist of officers of the same regiment, and is entirely of a domestic character, confining its attention to offences touching the discipline and interior economy of the regiment. Commissioned officers are not amenable to its authority, and it can only award corporal punishment, imprisonment, and stoppage of pay.‡ By the Queen's Regulations, the Mutiny Act and the Articles of War contain the principles on which Courts-Martial are constituted and conducted. + Mutiny Act, 1854, sec. 6. Ibid. sec. 9. |