In 1799 application was made to parliament for express sanction to martial law. The preamble of the act declared that "The Rebellion still continues ... and stopped the ordinary course of justice and of the common law; and that many persons ... who had been taken by H.M. forces ... have availed themselves of such partial restoration of the ordinary course of the common law to evade the punishment of their crimes, whereby it had become necessary for parliament to interfere." The act declared that martial law should prevail and be put in force whether the ordinary courts were or were not open, &c. And nothing in the act could be held to take away, abridge or eliminate the acknowledged prerogative of war, for the public safety to resort to the exercise of martial law against open enemies or traitors, &c.
After the suppression of the rebellion an act of indemnity was passed in 1801.
In 1803 a similar act was passed by the parliament of the United Kingdom as it was after the Act of Union. In introducing it Mr Pitt stated: "The bill is not one to enable the government in Ireland to declare martial law in districts where insurrection exists, for that is a power which His Majesty already possesses--the object will be to enable the lord-lieutenant, when any persons shall be taken in rebellion, to order them to be tried immediately by a court-martial."
During the 19th century martial law was proclaimed by the British government in the following places:--
1. Barbados, 1805-1816. 2. Demerara, 1823. 3. Jamaica, 1831-1832; 1865. 4. Canada, 1837-1838. 5. Ceylon, 1817 and 1848. 6. Cephalonia, 1848. 7. Cape of Good Hope, 1834; 1849-1851. 8. St Vincent, 1863. 9. South Africa, 1899-1901.
The proclamation was always based on the grounds of necessity, and where any local body of a representative character existed it would seem that its assent was given, and an act of indemnity obtained after the suppression of the rebellion. (Jno. S.)
MARTIGNAC, JEAN BAPTISTE SYLVERE GAY, VICOMTE de (1778-1832), French statesman, was born at Bordeaux on the 20th of June 1778. In 1798 he acted as secretary to Sieyès; then after serving for a while in the army, he turned to literature, producing several light plays. Under the Empire he practised with success as an advocate at Bordeaux, where in 1818 he became advocate-general of the _cour royale_. In 1819 he was appointed _procureur-général_ at Limoges, and in 1821 was returned for Marmande to the Chamber of Deputies, where he supported the policy of Villèle. In 1822 he was appointed councillor of state, in 1823 he accompanied the due d'Angoulême to Spain as civil commissary; in 1824 he was created a viscount and appointed director-general of registration. In contact with practical politics his ultra-royalist views were gradually modified in the direction of the Doctrinaires, and on the fall of Villèle he was selected by Charles X. to carry out the new policy of compromise. On the 4th of January 1828 he was appointed minister of the interior, and, though not bearing the title of president, became the virtual head of the cabinet. He succeeded in passing the act abolishing the press censorship, and in persuading the king to sign the ordinances of the 16th of June 1828 on the Jesuits and the little seminaries. He was exposed to attack from both the extreme Left and the extreme Right, and when in April 1829 a coalition of these groups defeated him in the chamber, Charles X., who had never believed in the policy he represented, replaced him by the prince, de Polignac. In March 1830 Martignac voted with the majority for the address protesting against the famous ordinances; but during the revolution that followed he remained true to his legitimist principles. His last public appearance was in defence of Polignac in the Chamber of Peers in December 1830. He died on the 3rd of April 1832.