29
2.3
recommendation to
dation to mercy. The Points I would
respectfully urge upon Your Excellency's merciful Consideration, are principally
these:
The prisoners were
ordered out armed,
by their proper Military superior, with, to say the least, very indefinite orders, the only thing distinctly indicated being, that in
order to catch the thieves
supposed to be in the vicinity of the camp, they
were to resort to a
426
prescribed artifice. That they had no orders as to the using,
or
abstaining
from using
their arms.
The peculiar and singular
position
of these
men are
in relation to their military
superiors,
much more
blind and implicit
obedience to orders,
being
expected and exacted from them, than from British subjects in Military service.
The belief that they were acting within the scope of their duty,
and in furtherance of the object