The Sun. — London, England, 1812-04-16 00:00:00

tervationa on the infinite tliffituity procising the die rge of a soldier, and lamented that merit was not . perticularly n-warded in otir army. It was his decide.' intention to vote against this mo tion, as he drearied the effeels of teaching the army to 'he: House 'tor redress in such matters. Sir a. ROMILLY contended, that the resistance made t . this &notion would be more mischievous . then any thing that had been anticipated, as the con sequence of granting the Returns called. for ; as when it was staied,(as it bad been) that to produce it would be ,to abolish corporal punishment, it would . go wall to the world that that which it would dis close was so enormous, that once made public, it would, nrs longer be endured. ile.did not mean to gay this was +he ta&, but such it would appear to the. world. It was necessary that the return should be eieen, that military officers might know what were theefferas of severe corporal punishment. At present, Military Court Martials had it in their power to sentence men, it they pleased, to receive five thousand lashes—to sentence men to punish ments which human nature had not the capacity to endure. It was then desirable that the persons of whom they were composed should be put in pos session of those fads which the Heuse of Commons could supply. In reply to wha , had been advanced by a Gentleman opposite with respect to the Militia, the Honourable and Learned Gentleman contended that :he greasesi severity was prattised in the Militia regiments. The punishment there inflieled was greater ban in regiments of the line, and it had beed calculated that if the same severity were praElised in ell ale regiments, which was common in some, the whole 70,000 men would be flogged in six years.— It was the boast of an Englishman that the laws sanctioned no cruel punishments; that the tortures . the wheel, and the knout, -were unknown • but in the army a horrible punishment was no one would wish inflicted even n a murderer.— What could be more dreadful than the practice of flogging a man so long as his strength would enable him to bear the torture, -while a' surgeon stood over the wretch to see that his life was not endangered ? When he could bear no more he was taken down to the Hospital, to ruminate ivith anguish of heart on the torture he had yet to rirdergo as soon as he. regained sufficient vigour w enchee its In this deplorable situation was he doomed to remain while his wounds were healed, only to be torn open again, and till his strength was restored, only to be agehe eel - ranged. The whip pings inflicted by the criminal law allowed the par ties punished to be able to go about their business in a div r two; buothepunishments-in the army were such, that if he was not misinformed, they frequently confined the , sufferer to • the hospital for several weeks. He concluded, strongly supporting the motion, and earnestly calling for the returns. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER desired to be understood,: as imputing no motives but those arising from - the purest humanity to the Honourable and Learned Gentleman who had just sat down, and the other Gentlemen who had spoken on the same side, while he thought that advancing what they hadadvanced, they might be in the wrong, and that what, had fallen from them, might produce great national and military evils, though they conscien tiously thought they did• but their duty in thus stating their sentiments on this subject. To him (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) it appeared, that, if be were to make such a statement, it would not only be mischievous, but criminal on his part : nor did he; with the sentiments he had, •know of any thing that would be more unprincipled than to hold out such moving descriptions of the effees• of the present system, when, if that 'complain ed of was- an -evil, he could not but feel it to be a necessary ceel. Such descriptions were most dangetous, as, exaggerating the evil, they brought forward instances unparalleled for - years, 'and rep'e sented such cases not as being those to which the soldier might possible be exposed, but as those which daily occurred in the•army from - the present admi nis:ration of punishment. He admitted that there bad been iustances of persons being punished two or three times for the same offence, but as far as he was informed on the subjeCt, he believed this to havebaen done in no recent case. (Here Sir S. Ba nally said " that the returns will tell us.") The 800. and Learned Gentleman said, " that the re turns will tell us." But ought not some return to have told him so before lie came down to the House to give such a description of the effects of the pre sent system, as they had heard from hie. that even ing ? Such punishments hail trfraieriy been indiCted, but he knew that the Officer, under - w horn these sub ieets now tome, had right or wrone declared, that attei a man had receised as many lashes as he was able to heat at ore time, to punise him again for same offence was illegal, and sight 01 wrong, under biro, the punishment was adinieistered. This be ing the ease, he week! say, that giving the army Each exaggeraled representations of the evils of the present, tar exceeding what his experience furnish ed; e en to make the soldier fear evils to which he was_not exposed. But supposing this pradice sill to•exist, was it no.hlug, that it should be not only exaggerated its deateeetton, but represented as unne ceseey, as that which ought to be got rid of, as that which was not required by the service ? They had be told that those regiments where corporal pu -eashinents were most used, were the worst. Why was it ,not lair to suppose, that it was the circum stance of their being the worst that csused the punishment; to be so frequent ? Allud lag to certain cases of extreme' suffering which had been mentioned by the Hon. Baeetiet opposite, he ridiculed the statement made in : the newspapers, of ea.. experiments made on a man who counterfeited ti ter insenebility, and who, it was said, ,had pins t rust under his nails, and even had his skull tre 'mooed without exhibiting any symptom of pain - till tees came to'scrape his braid, when he at last cried " Oh I" This story lie did not believe, and was eati , fied that it was a fabrication altogether. Was it tome to this, that when such-a story appeared in -tile newspapers, an inquiry was to be called for in that House, into the present syeem of military pu aii•hinCtir, and (Tat a refusal to comply with such a call was to be taken as a proof that the story was well tunr.dt d,' because the papers any Honoarable I'vlember might require were not produced to con; tradiet it What contradiction could the papers now required give to the story to which he had alluded ? ' He contended that it would be most un just to tkee the rettitM.tailecl for, on to pici.66,l contrast the conduct of the Colonel of one regiment with that of the Colonel of another; without first giving those Gentlemen notice that they were to be put on their trial in the House of Commons. If there were cases,in which it had been decided that corporal punishment might, ought, and should be infliaed, they (night to be prepared to meet such cases. This subjed had been not less than three times before Parliament in- the present Session, and as the Hon. Baronet had said he would vote for it, as it went to the abolishing of corporal punishment, that surely was a sufficient ground for resisting it, as the House had twice already decided that theaboli tion•was inexpedient: The Hon. , and Learned Gen tleman too had spoken in such a manner that he thought any person who heard the greßter part of his speech, would have understood'him to be speak - hag, not for the production of papers, but for the abolition of flogging. Persons of the greatest expe rience in . the army bad declared it to be necessary. As to. what had been said by' the Hon; Waronet of this country being a flogged nation', bedause so large a portion of the population was atleaed by the military system, it might as well be said that it was a hanged nation, because all were subject' to the criminal laws. The Hon. Baronet might possibly know some persons who would think it would be a very good thing if hanging could be done without, but he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) was ne-- vertheless of opinion that there were many good people in the community who were of opinion, that to preserve their lives and property, the infliction of such a punishment was necessary. - Sir S. ROMILLY explained.' _ __ _ Mr. BROUGHAM said, that the mode of argument adopted, particularly by the Member for Yorkshire, against the motion, was so- extraordinary, 'that he felt himself called upon to - make a few observations beforo the , House went to a vote. They were told that they could not allude to the punisinnenta fiog ging withoutwtting up a watch word of discontent in - the army. They were charged with interfering with its management, and upon those grounds the motion was resisted. But what consistency was there in such statements ? Did not the Member for Yorkshire pronounce an eulogium on the late Mr., Windham, for his plans for ameliorating the con dition of that army-? Was there, in tact, a - single Session, in which the House did not interfere in military matters ? 'And as an Honourable Friend of his had said, to whom was the army to look, if not to that House which paid them, and which should regulate them—not indeed in the important article of the device of a button, that was lett to graver heads, but on the minor points of subsistence and supply Were not such subjects considered in the Committees on the Walcheren expedition ? Never, indeed, did the planner of that expedition or his Co adjutor, who resolved that the inquiry should be. conducted wi:h shut doors, tell the House; that they. ought not to interfere with such topics, nor had be ever heard it asserted before this night. If such a ground of objection was tenable, there must be an end to nine-tenths of the discussions in which they were heretofore accustomed to indulge. If such a ground Was admissible, the Slave Trade could' never have been carried, for it could never have been discussed. He, for one, felt no alarm at the ten dency of the motion, which was intended to put an end to the present gross and needless extent of cruelty- The question before the House was, whether Courts iVlarrial had abused the power en: trusted to them-at present; and it was not enough for the- Chancellor of the Exchequer to say, do not inquire, for I know all is well. What would be the impression on the minds of the people out of doors, if this motion was not agreed to ? Would they be disposed to trust to the assertion of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, as he might be, at the very moment that he was refusing the proof, defeating the ends of inquiry ? He then alluded to a case which had happened lately in Canada, where a Major-General, a German, had ordered a man to be punished with 700 lashes. He should not mention names, nor did he blame the officer as 'having acted contrary to law, but the case exempli • tied the cruelty of the system at the present mo ment. It was a punishment which ne Man could deserve : death he could deserve, or less than death; bird even if there were men in our army Who could consider flogging, even as a substitute for death, a mercy, he would not be one of those to gratify the degrading choice. It was dangerous to draw such a distinction between the military and civic part of the community, and impolitic to continue a puniSh ment which must debase those who infliaed,and those who witnessed still more than those who suffered it. He believed, if the soldiers of our army were . not familiar with such inflictions, they never would have been brought to lend themselves to such practices as 'were adopted in the neighbotiring kingdom of Ire land. This was a delicate stabled, and therefore he should dismiss it immediately, not butt that lie hoped the moment of inquiry and of retribution would ar rive. He next alluded to the book of punishments belonging to a certain ship, by which it appeared that between fourteen and fifteen thousand lashes were inflicted in the course of six months. In one instance, a man brought up for punishinent had leaped overboard, and was drowned. If, Open in quiry it appeared that he wa's wrong, he would not only 'be ready to retract hit error, but would rejoice to find that be was mistaken. WirAssr,Fo.acs explained. • Mr: ROBINSON censured the prat ice of making loose statements' to the House, without mentioning the names of the parties, or giving any clue by which inquiry could be instituted into the hard Ships complained of. It was little short of a libel on the navy. He then proceeded to vindicate the conduct of the Admiralty, who had shewn a particular at tention to this subject, and,were Most anxious that lenity should be praelised as far as was consistent with the preservation of discipline. Mr. LONG bore testimony to the lenity of the Commander in Chief, and contradiEted the assertion of Sir F. Burdett, that orders issued against pen sioning soldiers afflicted with blindness. Mr. LAMB disapproved of the abolition of corpo ral punishment altogether, but supported the mo tion as the only means of supporting the case of the Right Honourable Gentleman opposite, by iheW ing that theylhad not been unnecessarily resorted to. After some conversation across the table, between . . , Sir E. BvitiiETT, Mr. Id EN Ott r, and Mr. Nina NERS StrrtONi the House divided Fdr the motion - r 7 Against it - - Majority I- 9 3z The Hot Vie went into a Committee on the Irikh tobacco Bill. Sir Jot#ty NEWPORT ObjetSied to two of the Clauses, which he said weot to establish a Maximum on the price of ttibaCco. Ere contended, that it was most unjust to prevent the trader fr6m selling his com modity if lie pleased, and therefore he moved to leave out the Clauses in question. Mr. W. POLE said, that theie Claims were not now introduced for the first tithe ; they had been inserted in every Tobacco Bill iu Ireland since the 3ist,of the King. So fir from operating as a hard shiP upon the faktrader, these clauses were intro duced, at their request, to protea them against the struggler, The whole western coast of Ireland was • ut• fine harbours, into which vessels might, and did come from America, with Tobacco; winch was smuggled on shore in. small quantities, it was, •therefore necessary to adopt ,stron; measures ;o pro tect the revenue and the fair trader: The price of tobacco was about sd. a pound without the duties, and these clauses merely prohibited the siding of it ,at a less sum than Id. above the duties, a prehi bitiOn that could hot by possibility injure the fair trader. After a few words from Mr. SHAW and Sir.J. New PORT, it was agreed that the Chairman should report progress; and ask leave to sit again. The other Orders of the Day were then disposed of. Adjourned till to-tnorrow. From the LONDON GAZ4rTE, April 14, 181 z. MILITARY PROMOTIONS. tl'ar-Office, ilps;l 34, 3832. sth Regiment of Dragoon Guards—Cornet Frederick Ham inersley to be Lieutenant, by purchase, vice Gordon, pro. rooted. James Spence, Gent. to be Cornet, without pur. chase, vice Brooke, promoted. Ist Regiment of Foot Guards—Ensign Robert Thoroton to be Lieutenant, by purchase, vice Bishopp, promoted in the 9th Foot. Captain lames Gunthorpe, to be Adjutant, vice Miller, appointed Brigade Major. BREVET. —Captain Alexander Thompson, of the 74th Foot, to be Major in the Army. BA R RACKS.— William Jephson, Esq. to be Deputy Bar. rack-Master-General to the Forces ►n Nova Scotia, vice Major-General Vesey, deceased. C. F. Raitt, Gent. to be a Barrack-Master to the Forces in Great Britain, DIVIDENDS—At Guildhall, London. May 5.W. Scott, Lloyd's Coffee-house,insurance-broker,at r. May 5. f. Hill, Peterborough, draper, at eleven. May 30. I. Bidgood, Swallow -street, cork -cutter, at twelve. May 2.1. Rose sen. and jun. Symon's-wharf, merchants,at a a . May S. . Hamilton, Broad -street, merchant, at ten. May 9. W. Mercer, Mile-end, horse-dealer, at one. May 29. f Dawes, Camomile-street, mariner, at twelve. May 7. T. Clarke, Exeter, dealer and Chapman, at ten. May 7. R. Price and W. Cross,. Bristol, merchants, at u. May S. A. Holehousc, Union-street, Shadwell, sugar-re- at one. May.' S. M. Sherwood, Doncaster, jeweller, at one. May S. A. J. Sarqui, Bury -street, merchant, at ten. May S. C. Price, Strand. umbrella-maker, at ten. April 21. E. Lee, Broad-street, merchant, at ten. May z 6. I. Waugh, of Lamb's Conduit -street, haberdasher, at ten. - May 26. C. Thomas, Philip-ihne, 4aaor, at ten. - May 9. R. and R. Pittman, Watling-street, warehousemen, ai twelve. May, s. I . Webb, Sheerness, slopseller, at ten. May 6. T. Holmes, Park, Sheffield, table-knife-manufac- - turer, at twelve, at the Tontine•inn. May 9. G. Gregory, jun. Liverpool, druggiit, at one, at the Glove Tavern. May 21. W. Stackhouse, Blackburi, Lancashire, , linen. draper. - at one, at the Old 13u11 Inn, Blackburn. May 7. R. Rogers, Liverpool, merchant, at one, at the-Globe Tavern, Liverpool. May 6. A.sßavvlinwn and T. Bagot, Liverpool, merchants, at one, at the Globe Tavern, Livetpool, May - r S. 'l'. Boss, I . R ichards; and, R. lones, .LiVerpool, tailors, at one, at the Star and Garter Tavern, Liverpool. May 13. G'. "ones, Liverpool, bookseller, at one, at the Star and Garter Tavern, Liver Pool. May 8. W. M'Clellan, Preston, Lancashire, linen draper, at ten, at the Fleece Inn, Preston. CERTIFICATES, MAY 5. C. Bessell, Prospea-place, Lambeth, insurance-broker. T. Williams, Worcester, upholder. ). Wilkins, Barnet, tallow-chandler: I. Nvatson, Sutton in Aslitield, nitller. • R. Wick steed, Brook'S. place, Kennington, woollen-draper. . S. Wilkes, Liverpool , inerchiAlt. I. Carter, Purtp9ol-lane, farrier. I. Smith, Seymour-place, earpentei% F. B.,Goldney, Seymour.court, Bucks, lace-merchant. F. Beauchatnp, Woodhatn, Chertsey, salesman. PARTNERSHIPS DISSOLVED. 1. Hunter and M. Hunter, St. Martin's-lane; men's-mercers. W F. Kirk and j. Winter, Grantham, Lincoln, nercers. j. Maund and M. Smith, Birmingham, tea-dealers. Bell, G. l'ringle, and Sligh, Berwick-upon-Tweed, sail-cloth-manuladurers. j. White and M. C. Hubbard, Oxford -street, haberdashers. R. M. Bacon, F. Noverre, snd I. (;. Burks, Taverium, Norfolk, paper-makers. T. Hutchins and E. Hutchins, Bristol, brick-makers. Lieutenant Wooncocx, of the Sultan, who lately distinguished himself in the gallant aClion off Corsica, as noticed officially in The Gazette, is one 'of the.sons of. the respectable SAMUEL WOODCOCK, Esq. of Gloucester; and not only that this promis ing young Officer may have his just praise, but for the sake of emulation and example, we feel pleasure in stating the following circumstance :—He board ed and' took an enemy's armed ship, carrying six guns, four - sm,ivels, and 53 men, with two boats only under his orders, and, in boarding, was nearly killed by the stroke of a tomahawk, whilst trying to save the old French Captain, but luckily warded off the blow with his sword, and ran the man through the body. A singular circumstance occurred in Westphalia. An intruder was discovered in bed with a married lady, on whom the husband. satiated his vengeance by shooting him dead. An inquiry was subse quently made into the affiir, and the husband was to become the viCtim of the law, and to suffer the punishment be had infliaed on the adulterer. In pursuance of his sentence he was conduCted to the place of execution, attended by some French, West phalian, and other German military, when the.mob interposed and rescued the alleged delinquent.— When the escape was attempted the French fired upon the populace; but the Germans refused, and the purpose of the multitude was accomnlished.-r- For this bu,iness, we are told, so much impor,tance was attached, that JEROME was sent for to Paris ;. and that lie set forth on his -journey, but, which is remarkable, his Majesty has not since been heard of, although strict inquiries have been made after him. REG?N7 'S aATNAE. • Pursuant to promise,the now lay before the pub , : lib the proof, as far as it has yet been adduced to the Connnons' Committee; in support . of the preamblii to the Bill for authorising this important under taking. Mr. Tate, an experienced Engineer frud cnntrac , tor for the execution of various canals, and Mr; Morgan, the Engineer to the Company, in several . , long examinations by the few remaining opponents to the measure, spoke to its•pradicability ;. anci Charles Harvey, the .Diredor of the Grand Jtinr . • t.on Canal ; ga v e e vid enc e' as to its great fire result of the testimony of the two former Gen.;• tletnen, who have bored, taken levels, and calco r ; hated the whole, is, that the ground in the line of the Canal is fit for the design, and that the strata Where... the tunnels are, to be, consist Chiefly of s blue shade clay, per(edll eligible for that purpose i and that th4e will not be the.sliginest difficulty carrying- the Om into effed r—that no pumps; drains, water-courses, or sewers, in the vicinity of tie Canal, will be at all atfeded or injured by it . 5' as the bed of the tunnels will be many feet below the springs by which they are supplied. That the fewer, head wav,„ crillateral cut, reservoirs, and basins, May all be construeled With equal safety And eligibility t and that all dangers from flooding or overflowing, will be precluded by means of waste weirs sides of the locks of the Canal, and in the natural Water-courses which run from the feeder to thei Thames. The total estimated expence of the Canal : 280.0001. including compenta; ion for lands, houses; &c. or about 223,0001. independent of these corn= pensat ions, and including 50,3001. for contingencies.) and both engineers stated 'explicitly, from Halal survey and estimate, that, the work might be well completed for that sum. Mr. Harvey, whose, judgment, from his character and situation, is much relied on, spoke to the utili.‘ ty of the intended undertaking, and his evidence not only established that point, but contained much ge neral information. He stated the .amount of the: tonnage of goods annually pasting on the Padding ton Canal (anno 1810) to be 180,000 tong, viz. in the proportion of about 113,000 tons from the coun-i try to Paddington. and 67,000 from the metropolis to the country. Ot this immense quantity now carted to and fro, through the principal streets of London (so as to employ, on an average, two hun dred and twenty-three ; carts or waggons daily for three hundred working days in _the year, loaded to the weight of two tons each) he calculates that 114,000 tons would be convoyed through the me-' diurn of the Regent's Canal. His conviction of this' rests on the grounds of greater convenience to car riers in, having their goods brought to wharfs nearer the city—of the advantage of being enabled to deli ier goods at once on board ships without unloading or cartage—of the expence of land carriage gene rally saved, as fewer horses would be required to take heavy articles from the Canal down hill to their destination, than up hill, as now from the Thames —of the facility which it would aff)rd for. the transt port of inland coals downward, and Newcastle coals upward, and the conveyance of every sort of :budd ing and paVing materials to all the northern parts of the Metropolis, and also of oak and other timber for the Navy at Deptford. Mr. Harvey, in addition, stated his belief, that of 16i 1 000 tons of goods which now pass bet w(4.9 the Suit ion Canal and the Thames at Brentford, about one half would find the.way by the Regent's Canal, making, with the tonnage to and froth Paddington (as above) a grand total of 1 ob;000 . tons for !hat Canal, all of which would be delivered , in London, and to the assignees, of the goods wherever si t u ate d, at a cheaper rate, and in better condition than they now are. On all these data, and many more, waled so muck' in detail as to be too voluminous for a Newspaper report, but of great weight, this Gentleman ey.press ed his firm conviittiun and opinion that the projeaedi Canal would be of the utmost public utility, arra contribute in an important degree to the promottorx and acconnuodatio., of trade, and the general comtort of all the. sUrrountig parts. IJIKI 11. On Saturday last, in Great George.street, Westmiu)ster, act Lady of Cadet' Brooks, Esq. ()fa Daughter. MARRI.ED. On Friday, lohn Nlanship Eviart, Esq.- to Catherine. chlest:cLiughter of the late Dr. Bethune, of Rowtaut, in that County of Sussex. On Saturday last, by special license, Sir Humphry Davy. to Mrs. Aprecce. The same morning, at St. George's, Hanover-square, Ma jor S. G. Newport, to Priscilla, eldest dau4ltter of the late, and , sister of the-present Sir Bellingham Graham, Bart. of Norton Conyers Hall, Yorkshir:. On Tuesday list, at St. Nlary•le-bonne Church, Paha W. 11. Bodges, Esq. of Wotten Court, in the County of Kent, to the Right Hon. Lady Isabella Anne Beresford, il:tuglitcr of the late, and' sister of the present Marquis of ‘Vatertord.s same day, at St. George's, Bloomsbury, George ohm. Gibson, Esq. of Lime-street, to Eliza, eldest daughter of Carew Elm, Esq of Keppei-street, Russell-square: Richard Hillier, Esq. of Love-lane. Cheapside, to Lea tia, youngest daughter of William Phillips, of Lewisham. • On the Litt) inst. at Wandsworth, Earle Lindsey Daniell. Esq. of the island of Antigua, and late Captain of the :2ts Light Dragoons, to Elizabeth, eldest' daughter of the late William Walker, Esq. of East-hill, Wandsworth. DIED. On the sth inst. Mr. Edward Cooper, of the Stock - Ex.. change Coffee-house, Conlinll, aged 49 years. OM the 9th inst. at her apartments at.Brompton, Mrs. At kinson. relict of the late Edward Atkinson, 1*- N - . On Sunday last, Christopher Kane, Esq. late Purser of his Majesty's ship Britanni,.. On Monday night, at Walharn Green, William Shaw, 111. D in the first year of his age. On Tuesday morning, at two o'clock, at his house, 66, Newgate-street, Mr. John Harrison. The same day, at his apartments in Alslp's.buildings, W. D. Griffiths, Esq. of • Yesterday. in Queen-street, May-fair, the infant son of Colonel 0 Nie. The same morning; at Lambeth, at a quarter. past three, after a lone and painful illness, Mrs. high, wife of Rear 'Admiral Witham' Wigli. PRICE 01 TUCKS RDA Y. India Stock, India Bonds, 6s. 7s. pr. Old Ann. Excheq. Bills, par, 3s. pr. Omnium, 4 pr. Imperial 3 per Cent. Cons. for 27 th May, 6o Bank Stock. Navy 5 per Ct. .9tl a 91 I list' 5 per Cent. 4 per Cent. 74 if, ;3 per Cent. Kai. 5 9lia •;,. per Cent. Cons. 6 o 4 k Bank L. Ann. is 7. toths HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE TO.MOR. ROW. Morning, zo min. after 6=l Evening, 45 min. after 6.