grieved may bring in any court of competent jurisdiction against any member of a court-martial, and perhaps a like action might stand against the commander of a squadron, who should carry into execution an illegal sentence, passed by a court-martial convened by his warrant. But neither the members composing a court-martial, nor the officers ordering such court, can ever be held to answer before another court martial for any vote, opinion, sentence, or execution, which might take place under such sentences. The remedy, as already stated, is in all such cases by a due course of law in a civil action before a court of competent jurisdiction. These principles of law and usage are equally applicable to the tirade and whining complaints of Lieutenant Fabius Stanly, a double convict, whose unlucky star has subjected him to two trials, by two separate courts-martial, under similar charges brought by two different commanders, A. K. Long and Z. F. Johnston, and to the verdict of "guilty," in part, by both courts; and although the last court, by sophistical reasoning and disregard to the practice of naval courts martial, in refusing to allow the charges and specifications to be read to the witnesses, and in the face of testimony upon which the court declares Commander Johnston "was not only justifiable in making his report to the commander of the squadron, but was called upon by his duty to do so," did acquit the said Lieu tenant Fabius Stanly of the 2d charge of "conduct unbecoming an offi cer and a gentleman," but found him "guilty of disobedience of orders;" this being a second conviction for similar offences, though under different specifications, within a few months. (See proceedings of both trials, and particularly the court's labored apology.) With these mere heads of defence, I should be willing to trust my vindication before the present honorable Secretary of the Navy; but there are considerations above, far above, any personal interest I may have in the matter at issue-I mean the maintenance of discipline and subor dination in the navy. If subordinates, who rebel against the lawful and laudable efforts of the commander of a squadron to enforce discipline, can turn upon their superiors, as Lieutenants Stanly, Green, Marchand, and Craven have done in their libellous attacks upon Commander Johnston and myself, the navy's chivalry, respectability, and usefulness, have departed never more to return. I neither seek nor shrink from trial by court martial on the charges preferred against me, although far removed from the community and scenes where the alleged offences are laid; and although death, time, and distance deprive me of many important witnesses, whether in my own de fence, or in prosecuting the charges which I have or may prefer against those unworthy officers: thrice armed as I am in the justness of my cause, I have nothing to apprehend from any malicious combination from any quarter. Whatever course the honorable Secretary of the Navy may deem most expedient to pursue towards me, I beg that it may be decided on with as little delay as the public interest will admit of, as there are now in Washington several citizens of California whose testimony I may require, and who will not remain in the eastern States long after the ad journment of Congress. I have the honor to be, most respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. WILL. A. GRAHAM, Secretary of the Navy. PROSPECT HILL, VIRGINIA, SIR: It is with unfeigned regret that I find myself constrained by a sense of public duty, as well as due regard to my own tranquillity, to solicit your attention to the conduct of Lieutenant Fabius Stanly, of the navy. Referring you to my communication of the 21st ultimo, transmitting proceedings of two courts martial by which that officer was lately tried, and to the recent complaint of Commander Z. F. Johnston, made to the Navy Department, I now enclose you the copy of a letter I have received from Brevet Captain Wm. A. T. Maddox, of the marine corps, narrating certain ungentlemanly and unofficerlike conduct in Lieutenant Stanly towards Captain Maddox. Lieutenant Stanly, encouraged by the countenance given him by Mr. Preston, late Secretary of the Navy, and mistaking your forbearance as regards his controversy with his late commander, (Commander Johnston,) has on divers occasions essayed to insult and provoke me, if possible, to acts of personal violence. When in Washington I am dogged by him wherever I go. When he sees me in conversation with gentlemen, he rushes at or by me with most insulting and disrespectful air, taking care, however, not to touch me. Anon, when he discovers me in earnest conversation with one or more persons, as was frequently the case during the last days of the session of Congress, he assumes the character of evesdrop. per, by placing himself in a position to overhear what is said; in addition to which, he is loud-mouthed in his slanderous abuse of me. Such complaints as these may seem puerile in the eyes of chivalry, and perhaps unnecessary in the opinion of the honorable Secretary of the Navy; but in these times of fierce contention for supremacy, a few of the junior sea-officers and some of the non-combatants of the navy will probably claim perfect equality and full immunity from military responsibility in their conduct towards superiors when on shore. Such was not the notion entertained by any in the better and palmy days of the navy. By the latter clause of the 17th article of the act of Congress for the better government of the navy, approved 23d of April, 1800, all offences com. mitted by persons belonging to the navy while on shore, shall be punished in the same manner as if they had been committed at sea." Such disrespectful and unofficerlike behavior on the quarter-deck would have subjected Lieutenant Stanly to immediate arrest and close confinement, and probably the severest punishment within the competency of courts. martial. I am unacquainted with any rule of service which can tolerate like misconduct on shore towards a superior officer. This case is aggra. vated from the fact that Lieutenant Stanly had been recently serving under my command as the commander-in-chief of the Pacific squadron; and it should not be overlooked, that it is on account of my official acts in the faithful peformance of high duties, in the course of which it has so happened that he, by the verdict of his peers, had been made to smart for official transgression, to which his extraordinary behavior to me can alone be ascribed. I have the honor to be, with profound respect, &c., your obedient servant, THOS. AP C. JONES, The Hon. WM. A. GRAHAM, NEW YORK, September 24, 1850. SIR: I have this moment received your letter of the 20th instant. In reply, I furnish you with the facts connected with the affair of Lieutenant Stanly and myself, which occurred in Washington some time since. I give it to you correctly, to the best of my recollection (as if I were on oath.) Some time towards the close of last winter Lieutenant Stanly met me at Willard's City Hotel, in Washington, and said to me that I owed him some fifteen, twenty, or twenty five dollars; he did not recollect the exact amount. I having no recollection of owing him anything, told him he must be mistaken in the person, and wished him to inform me what I owed this amount for; to which he replied, "Can I be mistaken in the person? but I think not; and you owe this amount for bets made of five or ten dollars on games of backgammon, played by Captain Tyler with myself, and which he will recollect." I still persisted in saying that I thought he was mistaken, as I did not recollect of ever having bet so much on the game of backgammon; and if there was any bet made by me on Captain Tyler's game or games, it could have been but an idle remark; such as, for instance, two horses were now trotting by: on the impulse of the moment, I might say I would bet $500 or $5,000 that the black horse would beat; and he, on the other hand, with the same impulse, might say he thought the gray would beat, and he would take my bet-all which, in reality; had no meaning. "But," said I to him, "if Captain Tyler, or any one else, recollects my making a bet of even that nature, I will with pleasure pay you the amount of your claim." We then parted, but afterwards met almost daily in the streets, without his addressing me, or even passing the common salutations of the day, until one afternoon, on or about the latter week of May last, while I was walking in the company of ladies, in the vicinity of the President's house, about dusk, Lieutenant Stanly touched me on the arm, and said he wished to speak with me. I excused myself from the ladies for a moment, saying that I would rejoin them soon and accompany them home. Whereupon he said, in a stern and positive manner: "Sir, you owe me twenty-five dollars, and I want the money." I said, "Sir, where do you obtain information now of such positive nature?" He replied, "I have seen Captain Tyler in relation to the matter, who says he has no recollection of it; but, sir, that has nothing to do with it. At the time the indebtedness occurred I made a memorandum of the bets, which places the matter beyond dispute." I then said to him, I thought his conduct in this whole affair was very inconsistent; that he, in the first instance, accused me of owing him a bet of some fifteen, twenty, or twenty five dollars, making a difference of ten dollars; and that he seemed to be in doubts whether I was the person or not; and that he finally referred the matter to Captain Tyler, who had no recollection of it. "And," said I, "you now come in a very positive manner, saying you had made a note of it. This whole affair is a mystery which I cannot comprehend; and as I must now leave you to join my company, I will see you, or you can see me again, in relation to the matter." We then separated; but, however, met each other as usual in the street, up to the time of my leaving (under orders) for New York, 1st June last. On my return from New York to Washington in July following, on or about the 12th day of that month, in the afternoon, I was walking in company with Brevet Captain Tansill, of the marines, and had just turned the northeast corner of 15th street and Pennsylvania avenue, when Lieutenant Stanly came suddenly alongside, and accosted me by saying: "Captain Maddox, you told me rather of a falsehood some time since." I said, "What, sir?" He then repeated the same sentence in a most insolent and insulting manner; whereupon, with my open hand, I slapped his face several times, pushed him from me, and then caned by breaking the small end of it over his head. Captain Tansill immediately took hold of me, during which time 1 most positively saw Lieutenant Stanly put his hand in his coat, take there from a stone, and throw it at me, which, having fortunately missed its mark, went into a book-store on the corner. One of the gentlemen in the store picked it up, and placing it on the sill of the door, remarked that that was the stone that man (pointing at Lieu. tenant Stanly) had thrown at me. Lieutenant Stanly walked off. I went to Willard's City Hotel, where I was living, and in about fifteen minutes afterwards Lieutenant Stanly came in, holding in his hand a large stick, raised to strike, and, crying out to me in a loud voice, said, "Take care of yourself." I was standing with a cane in my hand, and deliberately laid it down on the desk of the office, and told him to look out for himself—that he was acting rashly. He still approaching, when near enough, struck at me; 1 caught the blow of the stick in my left hand, jerked it from him, and threw it away. My first impulse was to beat him unmercifully; but after an instant's reflection of my being so much larger than Lieutenant Stanly, I merely choked him a little, and afterwards held his hands until we were parted by the assembled crowd. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Com. THOS. AP C. JONES, United States Navy. P. S.-You will observe, the fact of Lieutenant Stanly's being uncertain. as to the exact amount he accused me of owing him, when he first spoke to me of the matter, would go to prove positively that he had not made a note of the exact sum subsequently stated to me. Respectfully, Please acknowledge receipt of this. Copy from the original, by W. A. T. M. M. P. JONES. PROSPECT HILL, VIRGINIA, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of yesterday's date, by which I am informed of the omission in not dating my official communication of last week to the department. That letter was signed and despatched from this place on Saturday last, the 12th instant; and that is its true date-which I respectfully request may be affixed to that communication. With the greatest respect, your obedient servant, Hon. Wм. A. GRAHAM, Secretary of the Navy. PROSPECT HILL, VIRGINIA, SIR: Among the persons alluded to in my letter of the 24th of Septem ber as being about to return to California, and whose testimony would be of great importance to me before any court martial at which I might be required to appear, whether as plaintiff or defendant, touching the complaints of Lieutenants Green, Craven, and their accomplices, is the honorable T. Butler King, recently appointed collector of the port of San Francisco. Mr. King leaves Washington this day for New York, and that city about the 11th of November for California; consequently, it will hardly be possible for Mr. King to appear before any court that it may be found necessary to convene for my own trial, or for the trial of my false accusers. I have, therefore, in order not to be entirely deprived of Mr. King's unbiassed testimony, framed the enclosed series of interrogatories, numbered from 1 to 7, inclusive, which I desire to submit to Mr. King (who has never seen them) through the department, and respectfully re quest that they may be forwarded with all convenient despatch to Mr. King, at the Astor House, New York. I adopt this method of communi. cating with Mr. King to afford the department an opportunity for filing cross interrogatories at the same time, as well as to give to Mr. King's answers such character as will render them admissible evidence before a court-martial. I have the honor to be, most respectfully, your obedient servant, THOS. AP C. JONES, Hon. Wм. A. GRAHAM, Interrogatories propounded by Commodore Thos. Ap C. Jones to the Hon. T. Butler King. 1st. What was the condition of the inhabitants of California when you reached San Francisco, in June, 1849? As a body politic, had they any written constitution or laws, acknowledged by the masses? Were there any duly organized courts of law, or tribunals of justice, potent enough to prevent crime and to punish offences? 2d. From your own observations, during your sojourn of six months in California, and from such information as you were enabled to derive from the best sources, are you not of opinion that the presence of a ship or ships of war in the bay and off the town of San Francisco was at all |