the Samarang, and who also left us, not being
able to put up with the treatment he received. It is singular that poor
Mr. Wade should be killed so soon after he left the ship, and that his
successor, Mr. Heard, as soon as he also left us, should have been
wounded. But these were not the only officers who had quitted the ship:
Lieutenant Inglefield, who joined the ship as assistant-surveyor, was,
like most of the other officers, soon under an arrest; and after having
had a report spread against him that he was mad, he determined to leave
the ship, and obtained his Admiralty discharge. The second master,
appointed by the Admiralty as one of the assistant-surveyors, also left
the ship, but was compelled to join again.

A court-martial was now held on board of the Castor, to inquire into the
conduct of Lieutenant Heard (our late first lieutenant), during the time
that he served under Sir Edward Belcher. The court-martial had been
demanded by Lieutenant Heard, in consequence of Sir Edward Belcher
having written a private letter to Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane, accusing
Mr. Heard of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman. The whole of
the officers of the Samarang were subpoenaed, and there is no doubt
what the result of the court-martial would have been; but the court was
broken up on the plea that the charges were not _sufficiently specific_,
as neither date nor circumstances were specified. Before the court broke
up, however, they did so far justice to Lieutenant Heard, as to return
his sword, and state that there was not the slightest stain upon his
character, and that he was honourably acquitted. The reader may perhaps
ask, why the court was dissolved? It was to save the honour of the
cloth, that the court, composed of captains, came to that decision. Had
the court-martial proceeded, what would it have proved?--that a superior
officer had been guilty of slander, and had attempted by this means to
ruin a most excellent officer. The court declared that the charges were
not sufficiently specific. Surely, they were plain enough. Lieutenant
Heard was charged with conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman--a
charge sufficient to dismiss him the service, if it could have been
proved. But let us reverse this case: suppose that Lieutenant Heard had
thus slandered Sir Edward Belcher. Would the court of captains then have
discovered that the charges were not sufficiently specific? Most
certainly not. The trial would have pr