The Sun.
London, England, 1808-07-01 00:00:00

nciAeilea, and whether the intiio-in of them snay
Or got rid.of. It would be of &nate-
ocivant;,ge 1,) satisfy the ttliod of the and
tl of the vskblic, it the preser;t system shonld be
clltinued, o,ai it m. as on considerati(in -found that

no other could with safety be'resorted to.. He knew
'lien. .;ire.ti nenour existed in the British
Army ,• and ike wished to try hee's'w fair that spirit, se-
conded by.the corresponding principle of shame,
could be made to answer all the purposes,Oow Met-
h crually sought by the disgracefill
,system of coporal
punishment... The inequality of-the application of
corporal punishment proVed it to be fregirently
matter of
,caprice in the individual, and flits added
materially to the bad etteets produced by its shame-
ful nature. He would. state one instance, that of
the 1.511 i Dragoons,'in which, under
.one Com-
orauder, only. eight instances of the inflittion of
corporal punishment had taken place in 4ix'years ;
and tinder thi Present illustrious COmmaniler; his
Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, no, less
than. 'BO instances had Occurred in half the time
The comparative effect, so far as
_be could learn,' was
this, that under-the former system, the discipline and
character of the Regiment vt ere at the highest pitch;
and ender the present trysterre, the Regiment was
likely to be rendered goodAor. nothing. It was of
the tuntost danger to have such a power vested so
much in the caprice of the Commaneing Officer..
It was Urged against him, that the maintenance of
the corporai punishment was' essential to the disci-
teine of the army. • Why, then, was it not inflicted
in any oth, r army ? Why was it not in the armies
'of oair enemy, whose disciPine or spirit were cer-
tainly not to any iirpeachtueni ? He should
persi'w(re-iti taking the sense of the House on his
motion, and be hois d the Gentleman opposite
Would feel the impropria ty 6:- withholding inturma-
tiun sdiriteresting and important to tire Howie.
Lord CASTLEREAGH could not conceive what
Motives of puhliC athantage -Could have induced ,the
Hon: Baronet to bring forward this momentons sub-
ject almost on the last day of the- Session ; nor could
Ire see that . any practical benefit was to
result froM the interference of the House in this
business. If the Hon. Baronet saw so general
an interest to the Constitution, to: the charader of
the army, and the feelings and principles of the
People, why did he not call the attention of the
House to this matter at an, earlier period of the
Session. Adverse as he was in every point of slew to
the It A•tio: of the Hon. Baronet, and tie purprises for
hich it was allowedly brought forw:ard, his
po-
sition was outirnied-by the fallacy of the arguments
brought forward in support of it. The frequency of
the thfii6tich' of a punishment was a presumptive
proof, not of unnecessary severity, but of the preva-
rence of the offences that called for that punishment.
He imputed no improper motive to the _Eon: Ba-
ronet in agitating this subje6t, but he sn.,
mischief likely to result from rendering the Ai oiy
distuntemed with the. system by which. it was go-
verned. There W 4 )0 CrVil nor military code what-
soever that couli in t veTy point stand the test of a
stria theoretic scrutiny, though there were certainly
many which were found highly equitable find
bundicial in priret ice. The Hut. Baronet parti-
cuhirly adnered the French military code, and thiS
was -not. the .only itiStatiCe in 'which he was dii-
pred to follow the example of that nation. But-
it •was not to
,be supposedoleit because Boonaparte
had ordered one or .two soldiers who had been dis-
armed in the late affair at Madrid a punishment
Intruded oil t'h'- print tple of shame, that of carrying
a_s uk on parade instead f then—arms, that this
praern e,.or the principle on which it was founded,
was tee univer al rule cat the French tuilitaiy system.
The French Generals, it was well knots n, had
the power of ordering men from the ranks, .when
ga illy of any breach of diseipline, arid corninatid-
Mg tilt ar to be shut on the repot. Ili no instance
was the slightest corporal putaishment inflicted
in ties couetry , unless mitered ny the sentence of
con.peteht ttibutral, judging on oath. He animad-
verted on the impro,,riLey ut the illostration-adouced
bs the Hon. Batumi. from a particular regiment
(the 15 11 Dia,uotis), IthOUI any regard to the
chffeieitre that may exist ill time state of the regiment
ate -1,0i111.4 nu Ler •t. tie character of its met),
,or
the prevLlence of ail aft nee ‘ALich it was desirabae
to eradicate. -Ii was sety wrong to attribute the
frequency of Putistinient t, the c:price of the Com-
manding Officer, w hen it was, k trow n that nu pu-
trishnwnt coital be ititheted without the sentence of
a Celan Martial. lie represented Iu strong language,.
the injUrti may result front iiisrepresenting and
triOncing the s) mem under which that Braish Army
bad so -lung-flout ishrd, under which it felt itself se
Well situated, that it maintained the most exemplary
loyalty the moSt critical times, under which n
acgilired glory for itself and for the Country, and
under w Mich he would semure to-say, it was a mat-
ter of ; ride to,evcry individual in the atmy to be a
B: rush soAier. Front all these considerations he
was of epiiiion, and be was sure the House would
agree with him, that time present system of governing
tne a tiro ()ugh' not to be dis.urbed.
- rrtee was- of opinion, that
the iee ;?•ur ut the military code ought licit to be
appii• iie the Local Militia. But with respett to
its a 411 to the regular Army lie differed wide-
ly Ire - .Hon. Bart. be did almost on every
thing i... LA ought before the House. It was not .only
by the',,,revions form of a Court Martial that the
arbitrary infliction of punishment was gUarded
against, but by. the inspe6tion of the visiting General
-Officers, who were to see the Regimental Returns
of the Courts-Martial, the punishments that should
have n,kett pea e, and' the degree and manner -in
which those punishments should have been executed,
of all «hich particulars the Commander in- Chief
required Particular• reports to be. made to him. These
General OttiCers were also instruaed to inquire of
the men, 'as they passed the companies, whether
t' ey had any grievance -to complain of. With all
these Cbecks there could be. no instance of I,vanton
or ciipricihris punisliment-: The use of the cane
irt 1 laid aside in consequence of the de-
niinciattc not Nrajeity's,severe displeasure. He:
net eseiy to stale these facts,' to prevent
the Nitrite fiend iiont reCeiViilg a false impression un

• :1 s.)inipufiant.
5i..c..)..t.'1-.ARY an WAR, In explanation, stated
of 1)1, Royal Highfiess, llu
in, rtquiiing regni.sf returns of

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