testimony of the Greate shows that no assault was committed, no force or violence having been used other than necessary to restrain the man in custody and preserve the discipline of the ship. Instead of Capt. M'Keever's assaulting Madison, precisely the reverse was the case. You spoke of the Captain's "retort", but as Captain M'Keever declined to the jurisdiction of the Court and made no defence, I cannot see that any person can be designated.
It strikes me as a singular feature of the case, that in this, a criminal case, twenty-five dollars were awarded for the benefit of Madison himself, and upon his own testimony, upon the testimony of a man who in New York swore that he was a citizen of the United States, and in Hongkong swore that he is a citizen of England. This is contrary to the principle of fairness, that a man shall not be a witness wherein he is pecuniarily interested, and it gives an additional inducement to crews of American vessels to mutiny, as thereby they not only escape from the ship, but are pecuniarily rewarded also.
I regret exceedingly to differ in view with Your Excellency, but the conclusion that I am forced to is as follows:
That the local authorities have claimed to exercise, in the case of the "Reindeer", a jurisdiction not justified by the Laws of Nations.
That the whole affair was, on the part of Madison, an attempt to escape from his legal obligations to the ship, and
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