Star. — London, England, 1814-07-12 00:00:00

private families), are little calculated to promote the health or contort of their inhabitants. I live, Sir, in a parish (I mean that of Mary-la:bonne), which maintains its insane poor in a licensed house, and it is the practice of that parish, by the Medical Stall -of their Infirmary, frequently to visit them.— This Staff, consisting of a physician, surgeon, and arothecary, examine every month the insane paupers both as to the state of their minds and of - their bodily health. They see their bediroom—they inspect their beds—and they report in writing to their employers, the Guardians of the Poor, the result of their exami nation. Now, Sir, I have not mentioned this circum stance to do honour to a parish, with the manage ment of which I am personally much connected, but I have stated it in the hope of leading other London parishes into the practice I have described. It is, Sir, the miserable policy of many, indeed I might say of most of those parishes, to keep their poor, when men tally deranged, in their workhouses, in which, there being no other means of confinement, the unfortunate lunatic is generally consigned to, and fora great' length of time confined in, a straight waistcoat. — Thus, Sir, being much aggravated, and more un skilfully treated than he would be in a Mad-house, he becomes less likely to be restored to sanity of mind. The maintenance, Sir, of a pauper in a Lon don workhouse, costs his parish 6s. weekly—in a Mad-house tie maintenance of a pauper costs it lOs. and it appears to me, that to the small difference be. tweet these two sums, the interest of one-half, at least, of the insane prior of London is perfectly sa crificed. I am sorry to say, Sir, that in all my com munications with Mad-Looses, and it has been very frequent, I have observed that the patients of them are very seldoin visited by their relatives or friends. Now surely, Sir, in the degree our feelings prompt us to tern our backs On these unhappy persons, in the same degree does our duty urge us to attend to add watch them. they are, Sir, peilectly dea4 to all the intercourse of social life ; and worse than dead, with respect to tll impression their tate leaves on the minis ef their relatives and friends. When a man loses a friend, the frst burst of gra t being at an end, he fosters znd eaccurage every idea that leads his mind to the recollecta it . 4 his departed friend t— wlieteas every thought connected with insanity is so degrading to our vaure, and so humbling to our pride, tit ,r we male a point ot keeping it from our minds. With these impressions, Sir, I cannot but be highly friendly to the Bra novi before the House. I am sanguine enough w think that it will go a great way to secure the objects' of it against insproper, by which I mean unnecessary detention, and 1 canna; doubt bun, by the visitation it impustlson all ueu:Fpa pers, it wilt much- improve the conditions ot all per tains confined wider insanity, Indeed, Sir, I believe that the very agitation of Use Bill has had 'the latter effect to a cons.,lerable amount. I believe too, Sir, that it has improved the practice of one public hos pitei, I mean that of getilem, by softening its seve rity towards its patients. I have, Sir, within these few weeks, seen the nriliatunate maniac N o rris, who has been, I believe, more than once mentioned in this House. Finding him fastened to his bed's Lead by an iron collar and chain, strung enough to hold a ball or horse, I was extremely surprised to hear him express his thankfulness to his keepers for the liberty he now enjoys. My surprise, Sir, however, soon. ceased, on my learning fiom Norris, as well as from those about him, that he had beer lately exonerated born two.third parts of the iron which he bad worn for thirteen years past, night and day in his bed.— Now, Sir, this unfortunate maniac ar rational enough to admit, as do I, that it may have been long neces sary to enchain him, but he conrends, as du I, that it cannot have been so cerapleiely to encase him in iron, as has been the practice for a long series of years. Noe, Sir, with this tact before me, I cannot say that Eethlern is the hospital which I wish to ex, empt tram the intended visitation. I know, Sir, that among the Governors there is very much of benevo lence, but I fear that amongst them likewise, there has been some little apathy, to use a respectable Al dermaii's late expression when he spoke of Newgate, as to the sufferers within the walls of Bethlem. i beg pardon for having trespassed so long on the House. What I have said has been offered from a sense of duty. • Mr. Alderman Smith, Mr. Bennet, Sir J. Shaw, Mr. P. Carew, and Mr. Rose, expressed their sipi nions also in its favour; after which the B II was read at thirciaime and parsed. Several new clauses were, added as riders, alter they had gone thrOugh Com inittees. number of Petitions were presented from various parts id the cou n try a : ainst the Slave Trade. Lord LA'aCELiaLS presented a petition from the Post-misters of Yorkaliiie, complaining of the Post horse Farmers.—lt was laid upon t'-e Table. At the suggestion of r. LOCKHART the secend reading of ow Post-horse Farming Bill was postp oned %,„ r i hursday. a.ord PALMERSTON brought .up an addition to the Miscellaucuus Estimates.—Laid upon the table. LORD COCHRAN& Lord EBRING I'ON observed, that having- seen is ohe of the Newspapers, that a, day had been ap pointed tit - putting Lord Cochrane in the pillory, he wished to know, wilethenit. was the intent , n of the Crown to remit that part of the sentence of the Court of King's Bench ? Lt;r4.l C 4 1 LEREAGH replied, that it was usual for the Court to irk a day for carrying its sentence into execution. As to what the Crown might be ad vised to do, his Lordship was really not prepared to give an answer. The question had in the ordinary course been brought under the notice of the Crown, by A pttition horn one or the pariies, Mr. Butt, who. h d solicited fur mercy. That petition had been put i the regular CI All se, and a .reterency had been made to the Judge, alter which the decision of the Crown tw ou s a be made. As the sul ject was in a train of en quiry, lie thought that it would not be expedient for Yitleatuent I. inter ti ie. EiIkINGTON said, that as the Noble Lord could give him no iniormetion, be would submit A motion to the Hot.se upon the subject. Lord CiIiSTLEREAGII aslot d, that he should deprec, te Any $i • .ce the Croin wits the loon • tan 01 mei cy, and the House had no jut isditticm.— 1 the Now I.orkl did persist, he would recommend that the d.ry tiii.Al might be as late as possible, in or der that ,n Vie mean ton. tit. decision of the proper auutortty might be Lord EBRINGTON rejoined, that his- motion would be for an address to Crown, praying that that part of the sentence that related to the pillory might be mitigated, on the ground of Lord Coch rane's prqfessional services. ' Lord CASTLEREAGH remarked, that it would be a delicate questen, whether the professional ser ' vices of Lord Cochrane placed him upon a different footing to that of the other prisoners ? He hoped that a distant day would be named for the motion. Lord EBRINGTON named to-morrow se'nnight. Mr. TIERNEY wished to know, whether the judge's report would be made by that day ? Mr. WHITBREAD asked, whether the cases of all the parties would b.: considered under Mr. Butt's petition, or whether only that of the individual; were all the cases referred to the Judge ? Lord CASILLREAGH was not prepared to give any decisive answer, but he apprehended that all the cases would be included in the consideration of the Judge who tried the cause. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said, that the reference to the Judge was made. that the Crown might receive the requisite information. It did not necessarily follow that the Judge would give any opi nion upon the propriety of remitting the sentence; that was . a matter for the decision of the Crown. Mr.WHITBREAD noticed a previous case, where the Secretary of State had informed him, that the Jude was called upon to give an opinion; Ihe ATTORNEY-GENERAL replied, that it was true that the Judie might include his own opi nion, but it was not indispensably necessary that he should do so. He himself had, as a Judge of Assize, frequently been called upon to make reports on the cases of criminals, and he had not always included his own recommendation. Lord EBRINGTON 6sed to-morrow se'nnight for his motion. ARMY ESTIMATES. Lord PALMERSTON having'moved the Orer cf the Day for going into a Committee of Supply, Mr. FR EEMANTLE said, lie fett it his duty to deliver to the House his opinions on the present state , f the expenditure of the Army. It was to be recol kcted, that the estimates laid before the House were t! a. the service of the year, from the -25th December last, to die same time in the present year. In these estimates all the reductions front the sum voted for last year, was two millions, and that eventual. Now is fir as economical arrangements in our internal system of defence could be followed, they might have been adopt, a as early as April last ; by the reelifC ti•al thus effected, a greater saving than one-eig jai), which was all the reduction at present in all branches, • the whole expenditure would have been efiec , ed. If a's much of zeal had been used by the Government :0 the reduction of the expenditure of the country at 'resent, as they had formerly shown of energy in proposing enlarged scales of expenditure, they would nave beta even more entitled than they actually were to the liberal praise of the country. When the de- Jails of the estimates presented were looked into, they would appear more objectionable ; five millions were regnired for the foreign troops in the service of this country, and the militia. Now on these branches alone a saving could have been effected, if early and effectual measures had been ado;Aod, as great as all that which was now held out. For the staff and gar risons, volunteers, local militia, and commissariat, &c. there was a charge of sever. millions, on wl ich also there might have teen a reduction of much more than two millions. As to the General Officers, he agreed in the principle that they . were entitled to a larger pay than they had formerly enjoyed. There was one thing, however, to be considered in this re-' gulation, that those who were now Captains or ink-' rior Officers, would go on in rank during the peace ; yet when they became General Oalcers, it would not l i be said that they were entitled to so large a pay as those who had been actually efficient Officers or higher rank during the.war. The Honourable Gen-, tieman then observed, that it Was extraordinary that no one of his Majesty's Ministers had given any hint of the probable reduction on the peace establishment: it was true details might be difficult, but some gene ral grounds might be given. It appeared, however, that they were to return to their constituents, after the successful termination of the war, from most ex• traordiaary exertions, without Illy opportunity of an : Inouncing to them any reduction of their burthens, but, on the contrary, after having voted all the esi mates on the same scale of expenditure as those of laa year. As there was a probability and universal expectation of a most permanent peace, we should have recurred to the principles of expenditure which we had acted on before the war. - It was true th .t we were still at war with America, but it v.as imposs:ole to conceive that America could long 'contend ia ith this country,. and negotiations had been entered into with every prospect of a happy termiliation. It was, therefore, not without some cause being sheen that we should depart from the scale of expenditure of 1781. At that time the expence of Staff and Garri sons was £6,400, now seldom so little as ,C6(h),000. The Ordnance was £400,000, now between tour and five millions. The Civil List was 8895,000; now W 1,200,000. The other items bad increased in pia portion. The interest of the debt was then nine mil lions, it would at present be more than forty millions, when the whole was funded ; yet though then there was so much less need of reduction, the whole expen diture was £14,4(X),000, about five millions more than the interest of the debt. It was the bounden duty of the House to look to the lowest scale to which the expenditure could be reduced. The Honourable G,ntlernan concluded by saying, that he should not . object to the items of the Estimates. The Hon. H. G. BENNET said, that among the various branches of military expenditure to this coun try, the army in Sicily was one respecting which he wished to know the intention of his Majesty's Mini sters. While we were at war, Sicily was of impor- 1 Lance as a military station, but as we were now at peace with the nations on all the shores of the Medi terranean, it was the duty of the House of Commons not to altoW an army to.be supported in that island for the purpose of maintaining the Sovereign against the people. Under our influence many important re volutions had been effected in that Wand. Ttie Queen had been banished, and the Hereditary Prince set up instead of the King. The old Norman Con stitution, Which contained more than any constitution in Europe the seeds of those. establishments at which we were so proud, had been 'destroyed, and in its stead a most singular one established, which in theory . -. • . was liberty, in practice oppression. There had been, indeed, a Perkement which sat for a month. but when it had attempted to remedy some enormities in the Civil List it had been dispersed at the point of the bayonet, and a proclarnetioelad been . published, threatening with death the disturbers of public order." He trusted the Noble Lord (Lord Castle reagh) would give some satisfaction on this subject. —The Honourable Gentleman then adverted to the hard circumstances in which the veteran battalions were placed, which, though composed of worn-out men, had been sent on foreign service; and the Offi cers, too, were cut off from the hopits of promotion. He repeated his opinions of the former yeea. ie.pecting the cavalry regulations, which had succeeded in taking away things most useful, and substituting things scarcely even ornamental. Under the present regulations it would be better that the cavalry Colo nels should have nothing to do with the clothing of their regiments, for they were often considerably losers. Lord PALMERSTON/ said, that the Board which had drawn tip the cavalry regulations, was composed of the most distinguished .officers, and• their °Pinion,• were more likely to be accurate than that of any indi vidual : if the Hon. Gentleman, however, brought the subject under discussion, lie 'should be ready to meet him. As to the veterans it was intended to dis continue them as battalions, and to continue the offi cers on full-pay, and the privates on such an allow ance as the Chelsea Board shotild think fit. These battalions were composed of men who, though 4tot fit for active service abroad, were thought able to sus stain the less severe • duty of garrisons. The reason why the usual practice of keeping these troops at home had been departed from, was the unprecedented demand on the country for military force. Although they had been sent abroad, they had been stationed in garrisons, only in Madeira or North America, so that the severity of the, service was not encreased, and every attention had been paid to the comfort of the indivie duals. So little hardship was there in the case of the officers, that much more applications were made for commissions in the Veteran Battalions than could be attended to. It eas very easy to. say that reductions ought to be made, but in details he defied any person to show that economy had been neglected. It was im possible to reduce the regiments till all the battalions returned ; but orders had been issued to reduce the ca valry regiments within reach ; the troops having been reduced from 10 to 8, the number of men in each troop from 80 to 60. P. to the reduction of the Militia, &c. as early as April last, it wis to be recollected the number of French prismn ers, for whose safe custody we had to provide. All p esible progress was made in the reduction of the militia, all regiments that could be spared being marched back to their counties to_lse disbanded. As to the Staff it could not be reduced till the troops to which it was .Itteciied had returntd home. It was sufficient that the peace establishment, iii general, would he formed on the most ceconumical arrangements. As to the pay i f Greeter Officers it was proposed to increase the pay of these who had not regiments from Ad. 12s. 6d. to 'JCL 18s. which *ou:d make in all an income of R7OO 4-test. It would still, however, be a mark of distinction and of advantage to possess regiments, but those who wore not of that opinion might give them up and receive the increased pay. The Niblt Lord adverting to the Guards observed, that such Oihceis of teat hely as became General Officers should be wholly re lieved from regimental duty, with regard to - Which, indeed such officers were heretotere found quite ineffi cient in certain cases. These officers then being so relieved, the Captains and other officers likely to suc ceed them would gain in rapidity of promotion. Ai a farther provision for the Officers of the Guards, who from their services, he thought peculiarly entitled !o the consideration• of the lioese, the Noble Lord said, that he proposed to grant to the first Major of the First Regiment, which consisted of three batta lions, L9OO a year; tis the first Majors of the 2d and 3d Regiments, each of which consisted of only 2 bat talions, £7OO a year ; to tile Captains of the several Regiments of Guards, he proposed to grant £5OO a year, but on half.pay, he proposed an addition of £5O a year, to the ordinary allowance to the Captains of the First Regimea, who app Arad to have a stronger claim ; and £3O a year to the Captains of the other two Regiments; io tlie,Lieutenants of the army %On had had an additional pay of one shilling a day. he prop:sr...l to grant an addition of sixpence a slay on half-p.. - ; the half-pay of Ens•Rns he pr posed to fix at three shillings a day. The Nellie Lord concluded with come geeetal observations in support of tne pro posed arrangetnetit. General GASCOYNE thought that as the Corn mi. tee would be the proper place fir going into de. teie e any observations upon them would be inappro. fin ee upon the motion nefore the House. Mr. PONIiONBY said, that he had some observa tions to melte which applied to the principle of the motion ; that the military establishment of the Em pite calmd not be consistently reduced to the stan dard at which it stood previous to the war, he was ready to admit; but he contended, that every excess beyond that standard ought to be justified upon its .own grounds.. Tlee,excess created by the acquisition of Malta, the Meericius, and . other places by the late, war, clearly admitted of justification; but no tardier excess than that which. was eqiially necessary should be tolerated ; and exclusive orinch points as he had alluded to, our military establiSiiment ought to be confined to that previous to the revolutionary. war. The Noble Lord. had observed, that our military establishment must be regulated by the amount of force maintained by other European Powers; and he confessed that he was Much surpri.ed at this observa tion. Certainly it Was not very consistent' with the stetement 'ot another Noble Lord (Castlereagh), that we had now to look for a long. pi otoulid, ;the unsuspicious peace; i f so, it could not follow, that because Russia or Austria, or any other Power, maintained 30 or 40,0(10 more troops than usual, this country should be incumbered with the support of an additional military force. Unless, indeed, the statement of the noble Secretary for foreign Affairs was too sang uine, tee doctrine of the Noble •Lurd (Palmerston) was quite unt eti ebl e . He re t h e Ri g h t Honourable Gentleman aliuded to the state t• 1 and the views of Geverianeut with regard tb that country. Upon this subject, respeetinn which he diet not mean to pronounce Any blame 'pun M 4 esters, he telt himself unable to torm any opinion, tor he coule not understand the case. Indeed it appeared at pre sent unintelligible,. and perhaps it was not yet ear . dient to give any explanation. • • • Lord lt m the nst H b o e nseand .the aware A H S o T no L u E ra ß b r e A G G e H nde sai ma t that' the affairs of Sicily were at present in a very . igh C t critical state ; that country had, no (hub( ' great claims upon Great Britain. It was entitled to expect that we should actively interest ourselves in its fa vour, and he could sat that. waling in our power would be wanting to contribute to its future advan tage. With respect to the Right Hon: Gentleman's allusion to the character of the Peace, he could not help observing, that rather an exaggerated picture was presented by the Right Hon. Gentleman upon that subject, for the House and the country could not dismiss from its mind, that however deliberately 'the peace with France might have been formed. much yet remained to be done. It would be recol :lected, that all the territory regained from France was yet to be distributed, and, under all the circit":- stances of the case,, he submitted it would be quite impossible as yet to reduce our military establishment to the standard which some Gentlemen had in view. at least to that which existed twenty years ago. l e t must also be borne in mind that very material changes had taken place in the eaters'sl relations and internal condition cf the several nations of Euroci;, which it would be expedient to consider before any Resolution should be adopted with regard to the future mount of out military force. Ttecurring to Sicily, he was not prepared to give any precise infor mation upon that point at present, but he could as sure the House that due attention would be paid to the state and destinies of that country. Mr. BANKES deprecated the idea of leaving dale country in any degree dependent upon the discretion of other Powers, and referred to the arrangement pro posed by that great statesman, Mr. Pitt, as to the amount of our military force, gpon a peace establish, ment, in order to guide the judgment of the flo w . which ought to hear In mind, that while men were influenced by their passions, the jealousy or insutbility . of nations was not likely to cease, and that it would be absurd in this country to calculate upon a security from war. Therefore be would always recommend that due provision should be made against the visita, t.on of such a calamity, which, at least, was not more improbable in future times, than it had been previous to the revolutionary war. The Honourable Member concluded with observing, that adequate preparation and vigorous exertion was ever the best mode of ter. minating, if it did mt prevent, a war; 'and that, if that principle had been acted upon, the war which separated the American States . from Great Britain, would have been much sooiter brought to an eud, wick most pinbaSiy a very different result. Lord NEWARK read a statement of the proposed pay of General. pacers, and insisted that there was great dispMportion in it. as compared with former as.. rapgements in the time of peace. Mr. W. SMITH could not help thinking that we might do, with a less establishment than in 179 L It was impossible nct to allow that our military cha. racier must go for something ; and then the nation was in a state of -internal tranquillity. As to our toreign establishment, n • very numerous force could be necessary ; for instatice r in-dndia them was Cer tainly less occasion for a powerful army, than at the time when the French had so much ontroul in that country. He then alluded to the state of wily, and hope. 4 ;bat after opening.to that kingdom - prospect; of a better Government, we should not leave them to lament that none of our good promises had been fulfilled. After a few wnrds from Mr. CAL;CRArt, the House wentinto a Committee, and Lord PAL %lEASTON moved the first Resolution. Mr. PONSONBY •ibjected to the proposed method of paying the Officers of the Guards: the only effect of the alteration would be, not t.i benefit a most dis l i tinguished branch of military service, but to create a Considerable patronage for the Government. General GASCOYNE went into some details to thew that the General Officers of the Guards would be losers by the new arrangement. Sir EYR.E COOTE followed to the same effect s and recommended attention to the mouton Of the Ensigns • Mr. BENNETT insisted, that the measure would be a job—nothing but patronage from beginning to end, Sir B. BRYDGES objected to the proposed altera l tiou respecting the Guards. Mr. PONSONBY thought that something should be done to ameliorate the mutton of Ensigns and Lieutenants, whom it was impassible their present allowance could support in the rank of Gentlemen. The £20,000 proposed to be given to the Guards, would be much better applied in rendering their situa tion more comfortable. Lord PALMERS lON replied to the various ob jections that had been urged. The allowance to en .bigns and lieutenants, if compared wit., that made to others, would be tar from appearing niggardly. At the time when an addition was made to the lull pay of lieutenants and ensigns, this was not mt ant to ex tend to hab-pay, and would not have so extended but for the regulation now proposed. With respect to the cavalry, the junior lieutenant-colonels might be put on half-pay, but not the senior. 'The propos ed alteration respecting theguards was justified, from a number of officers having become inefficient for ge neral,ditty, in consequence of their proui.ition to he lAA of general odizers, and the expense winod only amount to £3,616. To vindicate the commander in chief from the charge of giasping at p atronage, It Wall only necessary to look at th e state the army; and 'at the end of a long war ,it was always cuaiiim sty to Make a general. promotion, to reward those officeri who bad ably served their country. Mr. BANK= and'Mr. BENNIEr explained; and the latter Gentleman stated the number of Conirmisions at the disposal of the Commander in Chief, to be from 16 ,to ,C 17.000. • A desultury conversation then took place on the part of General Gascoyne, Mr. f. Carew, Sir Eyre Coote, Mr. &Jokes, Mr J. P. Grant, Mr. Bennet, and Lord Palmerston. The Chau tsM then put t:ic question, that the sum of d 40,000 should be gratwd to increase the pay of Gcner.4 gtlicets L.ot !lawn: • regiments. General GASCOYNE expressed an intention to mqve, that the surdshontd be 1/4.7.101. Mr. PONSONBY moved tha: the sum should ba Umitedlg.W.outa, with a view to ilrikeolr Lae suits of atitAged. ' toe additions; expenc.: it the ,;cards.. that time might be rto fund to carry time plan 1.,t0 i'tectition. An Honourable Member oppubiEc l a td 1 t