The court-martial on the officers of the Agincourt for allowing
her to strike on the Pearl Rock has ended in a reprimand fbr her Captain and Staff Commander, and an admonition for Lieutenant Bell. This would be a most unsatisfactory verdict in ordinary cases, the business of post-captains not being to run on perfectly known rocks ; but the Court in its finding speaks of attendant circumstances. These circumstances appear to have been that Vice-Admiral Wellesley ordered signals from the Minotaur which the officers of the Agincourt thought involved a dangerous course, but not dangerous enough to justify them in hauling out of line. The public, therefore, demauds that the Vice-Admiral also should be put upon his trial, and the question of responsibility thus set at rest. Is a dangerous order, given without object other than the appearance of the fleet, to be obeyed unhesitatingly, or is the captain bound to exercise discretion ?
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