The Sun.
London, England, 1808-03-15 00:00:00

I\and how many descriptions of offences could be
included under -the "very extensive and sweeping
charge ofungentletnan-like conduk'sooften censer-
eteand pubished:by them, he was sure no latitude of
impunity could beeipprehended by givitier every ac-
cnsed 'persim the opportunity lit stating' his ease bp.
*fore Sus ll it tribunal. lie moved a clause aecOrdingly
the SECRETAR Y at Wdli Objetled ui the eta ti se
becatis.? the Hon, tart. had: iai a iro sufflcient greued ,
fur making so 'groat an alteration in -the constioltiert •
of the Army.- If the system Si) ling aCted pun Was
to be now for the first time eonsidered, it might be
matter of -coesideratioe how far the principle of t
Hon. Baronet Might with propriety be annexed to it.
—lt had become. necessary to keep up largestanding
armies, and in ordering these nrinieS it Watt.tnoSt
material they should look up to their head With awe.
Undoubtedly the intervention of Coatis Martial, in
general cases, was right and necessary. -.But still 'there
were cases that called for the exertion of a summary
power, and the exercise of such a power, in these',
cases, was,attended with the most salutary eff.e&s.
The itistanees in•which it was in fati exercised were
ery rare, and he believed it would be very hard fq,
find rn instance m which it had' been abused. To
say that it was liable to abuse was no argument (or
wchat power was not ? The prerogative of war and
peace was liable to abuses of the andst fatal tendency,
and eves the amiable prerogative of mercy may be
exeleised to the violation of justice and the material
injury of the State, Still no one ever thought of
limiting the Crown in the exercise of these': parts
oftheprerogatiVe. The idea: of ae artily totally in-
dependent of the Sovereign Head was :repugnant to
every principle of the Military and Civil Constitution.
It had always beeit felt so, and therefore the inter-
, ference of Parliament With the power of the .S -
vereign over the army had ever been deprecated as
asort of'.invasion subversive of the Constitution, and
ruinous to the Country., There werenovi no abuses of
the prerogative toantuicidateOfficers in the disposal of
their votes in Parliament. There were now no abuses
whatsoever that came within his knowledge: He
-
thergfore would vote against the clause.
Lard F0LK5771..; commended the speech and
the pioposition of the Hon. Baronet who. proposed
the clause, es highly moderate. 'BUt the ;input-t-
-aunt. of the consideration of Making so great a change
in the constitution and government of the army was
such, (Italie wished it to be done in the most deli-
berate form. He 7 therefore, recommended to with-
draW the clause, and to bring forward the proposition
in the form of a distind•Bill.
D COK MT adverted to the reje6lion of a
clause of this kind by the great Mr. Pitt, who had
been himself deprived of his commission by the
bitrary exertion of the prerogative. There was no
time, no country, no army, in which the power here
complained of'did no; exist. To abridge the power
of the .Crown in this point -Would not add to the
berties Of the people, but to 11)(3 independence of that
army Whi:ll4as sonmeh the objeal of "constitu-
tional jealdasy. •
Goieiat Fin PATRICK thought, that all Milo-
vatious on the constitution of the •Army ought to-he
attempted with the most cautions deliberation, and
never 'without strong la6ts to warrant aid call' for
them, .The litvmoraWe Baronet had addneed no
such falls,' and lie hitoselfknew 'of male. lie should
therefore give the claose:his decided iregatitke if the
Honourable. Baronet sjtould bring it up. The;coe.
stitution.ofthe Army was as :much an objet of nice
attention as the .Constitution 'of the State. Thetri3l
by jury was preferable to the trial by cetni martial;
in point of 'justice yet nobody thought of intrOduC.
Mg it into the army. He hoped, it the llonourable
Bayonet withdrew the clause to bring it forward in
the shape of a Bill, he -would at least make out a
case. , .

Clause of the Bill by which the optiott -0" et 'ming
tar limited or unlimited, service was a lowed to the
recruit.

The SECRETARY at IP/IR re-stated the
he expressed on alortirer bight, that the plan
of the ;tight Hon.
,Gentletuan had met with' no suc-
cess v, hatever, and that the former system for the
second battalions was infinitely superior to it, pi-O-
clueing every adVantage ,of his system, .while - it
was :totally free from the inconvenieuciesof that
,system. - F.
Mr. Mall MIST stated, thatit always appeared ,
to'him, that if the system of, the Right lion. Gen.,
:11ctrian'(Mr.-Witidbatu)', had merit, iewas preciselY
that kind of merit which the operation of time alone
could develope, He okjeeted to the Clause intro-
duced by the Noble Lord, 'and should vote for the,
pre‘ent motion,, because lie conceived,,that although
that Clause did not profess to repeal the Right Hon.
Quntteman's-measure, yet, that if the: door were
once ,open. to anyluvasioti-of 'it, it might ever:3l63lly
be cmupletely,destroyed:.
Ce/one/ 11/00papppesed the, motion, and:dwelt
particularly on the, enorMous.expence that ,triust
sult from the Right Hon.,Gentleman's plan,. which,
if prosecuted, would, at the end of seven years, sad-
dle the country with an additiatial expeediture of
from half a million to a million annually.
Si!: G. lt RRE,NDEIi ,supported the motion:
Although he kid considered it to be, his duty to carry
the measure di volunteering from the Militia into
the Line
,into the. fullest, etlect in the With' regi,:
merit whiele he 110(1 the, honour to :command, he
contended that that rnea,:nre was highly oppressive,
that circuiustances bad occurred during the last
ballot Which would doter:Governmeut from any re-
petition of it. .
colonel DUCKETT reprobated the, condu& of
the Hon, Gentlemen opposite, who seemed deter-
mined, by every means in their power, to impede the
pirblic service.
Mr. TtenNr.T Called the Hoe. Gentleman to CM..
der, hut deviating himstlf into act iteensatioe of the
opposite.side of the House, was himseif-ealled4o
order by Mr. CANNING,- who observed, that as long
as the Speaker was in the Chair, and the Hon. Gen-
tleman was trot the Viceroy of the House, be• Could
not 'be, permitted in eorre6ting an individual to in-:
dulge in a general aninitAlversion. .
The SPEAK et( deciding that the Hon. Colonel had
been disorderly,
. Colonel ,DUCKBTT apologised, but added; that
ungmestionably the' effe,4 of the condut of the Hon.
Geetlemen in opposition had been to retard the
public business. He then entered into an exatnina=
lion of the subje&, and denied that the Clairse in
trodueed by the Nobler Lord was -calculated to
destroy the effea of the Honourable Gentleman's
it system. "
Mr. LITTLETON contended that. the Clause
introduced by the Noble Lord, specious and trio=
derate as was 'its exterior, contained within it that
which must effeetually sobvere the system of his
Hon. Friend, 'a system which the 'returns-on the -
table incontrovertibly proved was progressively in-
creasing in.'its produce.-
Mi. G. JOHNSTONE supported his Noble
Friend's-Clause, which went Merely to give to the
it
of
torief:
err; IL:trovin p"latsi‘ovinll eputed nlisting
no
forifso: rNi ijottsbe metrionl
e
insidious destruction of the Hon: Gentleman's
system. • • ,
• Colonel SIIIPLEY opposed the Clause upon the •
same ground as Mr. Littleton., .
'Colonel said it was better to ruin the
note: Gentleman's system, than to allow his system
to•ruin the army.
Mr;IPINDIMM entered into an. examination
of the nature of that system, which he contended it
was the plao of the present 'Administration, secret-.
ly, cowardly, and clandestinely to I,;,dermine ; the
measure which they proposed'-was inToient as to,
good, but powerful ao to mischief. With a deteo,'
mined, unrelenting, reMorselessanittosity,,,they ,
deavoured to destroy the existence ,of that which
lived to their:shame. The (location was, whether
Parliament would give to the Country that delusive
strength which, spirituoui liquors
,imparted to, the
human frame, or whether they would allow it to re-
tahi the natural: vigour of an Unexcited body. The
sobjeCt, was of great Jrneertanee His Majesty's
Ministers had no right to call for a' deCision upon it
under such circumstances. :Was it fairjo„the House
-was it decent to the Public, to retpaire the present
Parliament to reverse the measure already este-
Wished, by admitting a prbpositioe %hidi had been
twice negatived in two former Parliamenti,.- and by
thus making • the Legislature eat' its own words.
To introduce thisienoVatingHattoMpt hit° a Bill,
which, from the Maitre wit, could not be stopped in
it progress, was a step prompted by a siMilar spirit
to;that which direCted the eoiered attack on Cepen-
:liagen. That' his Majesty's Ministers really wished
to destroy • this measure, he doubted not, althOugh
they denied any such intention.: The clause intro-.
duced by the Noble. Lord was as wise fog- their con-
cealed purpose as it. was, fOolish for their. avowed
purpose. tie dwelt on theevils which must rCsult
from the Noble Lord's prOposition; and particularly
on the' heart--burnings which must 'be occasioned
among men who were etilistedibr different tertos of
Service ; and remarked' the change' which had taken
' place itt the sentiments of his Majesty's Minisiers,
who formerly had called out for a present acetission'
of force, regardless of futurity, hitt who now dire'-"
garding the present, directed all their sOlieitude to
the future; for he contended, that not a single ad-:
ditional man would he gained to the Begttlar Artily
by the new regulation.: „He stated at length the
steps which were taken by the late Administration'
for the reduCtion of the, bounties, which fie thought
might in time be brought:down to one guinea. .The'
bounty, under, the,system of the pvsent Ministers,.
was in onder his syStem it.was already se low as
61. and rapidly lowering from tl at.
,He. again in-
sisted On the breach of final in, putting other terms
of engagement to the men than those given under
his measure.. He complained of the -insertion ef
the present proceeding in the, Mutiny Bill, Which
could not admit ut detny, and Wished it to be brow lit
fc.m,vard in a dist Met shape,' which, would afford sutn.
cient time to consider and dikuis it.

Sir FRANCIS BURDETT found in the • IPeeeb‘
of the Hon. General, arguments to induce him to
persevere in bringing forward his' clause, rather than
to withdraw it. He had maturely weighed the
clause before he introduced lie did not 6E6
cases of abuse, it was not because they did not exist,
but ".because he was unwilling to hurt any one's
feelings unless torced to do. it He was surprised rand
astonished to hear the Hon. General dtxlare himself
ignorant of such instances.
General TARLETON here called the, Hon. Baro-
net to,order.
And the SrF.A mitt being appealed to, decided that
the Hon. Baronet was exceeding the courtesy, alloWed
by the House in rcApeet, to second speethes.
Sit F. Bo ant;rl declared his intention to withdraw
his motion. , „

C7IANCEL:4OR of the - ENCREQUSIi
consented to the withdr4wiog of the Motion ; but.
not on the grounds stated by the, Noble Lord oppol,
site kYe conceived that it wad a proposition that
would not be justified,, even were gross-abuses:of the
prerogative alledged. - abuses windti .require,
not that tlye preroiative should be curtailed, but
,that
tht 1-louse shoultr call on those whose ditty it.was;
to advise his isfltiiesty- to answer tor their,condua.
The Motion Was then- allowed to be.withdrawn.
MUTINY BILL.
The N:ititty Bill was read a third time:. •
Mr. CA Lelidirr robe to move an amendment,
the Ojai of •whieh.was to reduce 'the, Mutiny Bill
to the state in which it wits last year,,,and to bike
from his Majesty's Ministers the power oferdisting
=tiler a term longer than that which the Bill' had
hitherto prescribed. He replied to the arguments
'that had been used against limitecr,service. :In the.
East Indies the example of _Company was a 'suf-
ficient inducement for its iadoPtion. In the West
Indies a regulation of that sort was absolutely neces-
wary to inferce the regair relief of regiments: The
charaaer of the soldier was Unproved by_the intro-
dut!;tiOn of limited .service ; 'the greatest part of the
army who conquered in Egypt were composed Of
men who enlisted from, the Militia for a term of
'years. They success of his Hon. Friend's system
was rendered utHeniable. He reprobated the Mode
'in. which it, was attempted to subvert that system.
Adverting to the ;(),000 men that had enlisted from
the 'Militia into the :regtilar serOce, he contended
that xach man Cost the Counties, upon •theaVerage,
25L'which added to the 101. of bounty to induce
theta to enter into the regular briny, mule an ex
hence of 3bl. per man, of altogeilier a sett of
00,0001. and this not equilli) raised, but uhinutely
tailing onqhe landed property of the tountry. He
concluded by *moving. to :Oinit the ttorLis that

Lord CASTLI.,:fiILI.OII tln it,; pt.:tura! tha
the 11.tglit Getttlet!tan bbitt,ld - havg,the

Led by RICHA ND Ruis, or NO. 4, MAillett-t-Gurt, I.3ow.strcrt 41 and pubbblird ES Aim; r.t S , ..t.
virtptt NQ. l IT) Strand di/yule
wsekien!2: Orders tor the Paper, 1 ellen tot the bittitur, e(prisi-lialai,