The Sun.
London, England, 1849-11-17 00:00:00

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LONDON, SATUIWAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1849.

Curiously enough, in his valuable " Remarks on
Military Law and the Punishment of Flogging"—a
work which will long be regarded as a standard
authority—Sir CHARLES NAPIER, the present Com-
mander in Chief of the British Army in Hindostan,
has made direct allusion to a system of petty but
despotic harshness, exactly analogous to that which
recently produced the deplorable riots in Notting-
ham. After enumerating the various military
punishments—death, whipping, branding, transporta-
tion, imprisonment, stopping the allowance of grog,
extra drills, extra guards, turning the coat, and
duties of fatigue—the distinguished writer reprobates
in very energetic language those other little tyrannical
inflictions which he says are occasionally contrived by
the more cruelly inventive commanding officers
and which he moreover declares to be " likely enough
to goad men into mutiny and desertion, in the face
of all the regulations that human ingenuity could
devise to prevent such crimes." Among these ha-
rassing punishments he expressly particularizes (page
126) the improper confinement of men to barracks
for an unlimited period." And furthermore, he says
with the most resolute emphasis (page 127), this art
of tormenting in which a few commanders of regi-
ments were (are?) apparently so expert, is, of all
others, "the most destructive to discipline."
Can any thing be more strikingly applicable
thin this to the case of the Lieutenant.
Colonel of the 3(1 Regiment of
some
Dragoons
i:
Irritated at the negligence evinced by om
men in the grooming of the horses, that officer, on
the 9.h October, must needs inflict an irksome and
hara 'sing punishment indiscriminately upon guilty
and innocent—restricting them to their barracks for
an unlimited period of confinement. The consequence
was, of course, strictly in conformity with the asser-
tions of the Conqueror of Sinde, corroborating, in a very
striking manner, the remarks just quoted by ourselves.
A spirit of insubordination speedily manifested itself in
the regimen*, and the result proved, as might have
been readily predicated, the most prejudicial to the
character of the set vice, and " the most destructive to
discipline." Privates, hitherto of excellent reputation,
after subuating for three or four days to an un-
merited and almost unendurable confinement, were
driven to a state of mutiny, and had the annoyance

continued much longer, might in the end have been
goaded even to desertion. Meanwhile the Colonel
of the regiment, after having recklessly and, we can-
not but add, most culpably sown the seeds of disaffec-
tion amongst the men submitted to his authority, left
the evil of his own contrivance to work out its mi-
serable consequence, and, with a thoughtless-
ness deserving the severest reprobation, went
idly forth in pursuit of his own pleasure.
Before a single week had elaped the ill-fruits of his
irritability of temperament were very speedily and
rather disagreeably perceptible. The Commanding
Officer was suddenly summoned back to Nottingham
by the noise of a very prevalent insubordination.
Matters had reached such an alarming crisis that it
was found advisable to place several of the men under
arrest, and to bring them without much delay before
an extraordinary court-martial. Seeing that these
occurrences are so recent that the details must be in
the recollection of most readers, it is unnecessary to
specify any one of the cases of hardship brought
under the consideration of the President of the Court-
martial and his c olleagues. It was only on Monday
evening, indeed, that we took occasion to refer more
particularly to the circumstances attendant upon the
arrest, trial, defence, and punishment of private
; so that further allusion to the minor points
of the subject would be altogether superfluous.
What the opinion of his Grace the Commander•in-
Chief is upon the cause of all this lamentable disturb
ante has been very audibly pronounced by
him in a letter, strongly condemnatory of the
course pursued from the commencement of the
transaction by the Lieutenant .Colonel of the
3d Dragoons. Nor can the decisive terms employed
in that communication by the Duke of WELLINGTON
be any subject of surprise, not only from a recogni-
tion of the grievous injustice of the whole proceeding,
but especially from a recollection that it was his
Grace who first endeavoured, some years ago, to

put a stop to all such hara=sing punishments as the
pack drill for an immoderate number of hours, and
(the very offence committed by Colonel ARTHUR)

the improper confinement of men to barracks fur
an unlimited period. The humane and judi-
cious order in which the Duke then condemned these
most unjustifiable acts of tyranny was cordially fol-
lowed up in the same spirit by his Grace's distinguished
successor, Lord HILL. Notwitheanding, however,
the:opposition shown to this Lind of petty despotism
by the leaders of the British army ; notwithstanding

the order issued by the Duke of WELLINGTON, the
upport of that order by Lord HILL, and the panegyric;
pronpunced upon it by Sir CHARLES JAMES NAPIER
—recent occurrences have sufficiently demonstrated

that some more stringent measures must be adopted
to prevent the possibility of the recurrence of any
similar grievances. What occurred on the 9JI of
October, and on the five days following,
show very clearly that until some more decisive step
be taken the soldiers are liable to these acts of in •
tolerable injustice—ticta which prove subversive to
discipline, inasmuch as they are direct incitem9nts to
insubordination. At present the infliction of these
supplementary punishments—punishments beyond
those expressly specified and classified in the Mili•
tarp Code—appears to be optional to a commanding
i.fficer in any moment of ungovernable irritability.
Surely the matter requires rectification, at
least to the extent of the removal of thi3
responsibility from, the colonels, excepting in
conformity with some scheme reasonably con-
ditional. Until this shall have been accomplished
the soldier will have no security whatever from the
splenetic whims of any commanding officer who
happens to be affilcted with a peppery disposition.
Cleanliness and obedience are, of course, qualities
absolutely essential to the maintenance of military
discipline, but so also are requisite, on the part of
the officers—common justice and reasonable con-
sideration.

The cruelty and oppression practised through the
intervention of the Palace Court had long excited the
public indignation, and eventually led to the Act for
the extinction of that notorious tribunal. It wati, of
course, desirable that means should be afforded for
the cheap and expeditious recovery of small demands.
The creditor ought not to be deterred from seeking his
just rights by the expenses and delays incidental to
their recovery in the superior courts ; and the
debtor ought not to be ruined by extravagant costs,
far exceeding the amount of his original liability.
The establishment of a new jurisdiction, and a com-
plete code for such cases was, therefore, regarded as
a boon to all parties—to defendants as well as to
plaintiffs ; and so it would have proved if the law
were judiciously administered, and the extensive
powers accorded to the presiding judges exercised with
prudence and discretion. Very wide limits were,
however, necessarily allowed. Cases of gross fraud
and dishonesty must frequently arise, which should
be visited with stringent punishment, but there would
likewise be cases of unavoidable misfortune, in which
every possible indulgence should be afforded to the
hapless debtor. It never was the intention of the
Legislature, when framing the small debt code, that
all cases should be dealt with in a similar manner,
and that the power of commitment should be need-
lessly exercised, more especially when the plaintiff
did not wish to enforce the utmost rigour of the law,
or call upon the judge to display his authority.
According to the true spirit of the Act a committal
should only be ordered in cases of fraud, and any
period (not exceeding forty days) might be fixed
as a specific punishment, the imprisonment not in
any degree affecting the debt, which would still
remain in full force and effect, as if such imprison-
ment had not taken place. The debtor could not be
discharged from custody, if once arrested, on pay-
ment of the full debt and costs, until the " leave of
the Judge of the Court in which the order of im-
prisonment was made" had first been obtained ;
and even a " protection order or certificate of any
Court of Bankruptcy, or for the Relief of Insolvent
Debtors," would not be available to discharge any
defendant for such commitment.
Under such circumstances it is manifest that the
power should be cautiously and sparingly exercised,
that a well disposed but unfortunate debtor should
not be branded as a fraudulent or dishonest person,
on light or trivial grounds. The 99th section of the
Act specifically sets forth the causes for which im-
prisonment may be directed. If the party sum-
moned shall not attend, or allege a sufficient excuse
for non-attendance, or if he refuse to be sworn,
or to make full disclosures as to his
estate and effects, and the manner and circumstances
of his incurring the debt or liability, and as to the
means and expectations he thenhad, and the property
and means he still has of discharging it ; and as to
the disposal he may have made of any property ; or
if he do not answer to the Judge's satisfaction ; or if
it appear to the Judge, on such examination, that such
defendant, in incurring the debt or liability, had ob-
tained credit under false pretences, fraud, or breach
of trust, or had willfully contracted the debt or
liability without having had at the same time a rea-
sonable expectation of being able to pay ; or had
given or transferred any of his property, or charged,
removed, or concealed it, with intent to defraud his
creditors; or if it appear that the party summoned had
then, or since the judgment obtained against him,
sufficient means to pay either altogether, or by such
instalments as ordered, and had not done so—then,
in any of such cases it should be lawful for the Judge
to order the party to be committed to prison for any
term not exceeding forty days.
From this it clearly appears that if the Judge com-
mit the defendant for any cause not above set forth,
he will exceed the authority confided to his hands
and be guilty of a very illegal and improper act. The,
causes of committal are sufficiently wide and exten-
sive, and Mould not be unduly increased. The party
imprisoned will not only be taken from his family
and business, and exposed to the degradation and
demoralization inseparable from confinement in a
Common gaol, but a stigma will be affixed to his name,
from w heomraiyn never be enabled to escape. Though
texoneratedhe bankruptic hfrom allsoivoethnetrladweab tsbymtahye
still
operationha have
e to
sustain the full term of imprisonment'he decreed by the
The decision, too, will be
final
o and n
County Court Autocrat.—
so a
ppeal will lie for any ex-
cess mistake, or error of •
oi u cr
s d ci lcut
oivne,
judgment.
The presiding Judge should; therefore, be doubly
cautious, and avoid any petulance or irritability that
might lead him into acts which on cooler reflection
he would himself be the first to condemn. He
should not suffer himself to be made the instru-
ment of persecution for the gratification of the

malice of a vindictive creditor ; above all, he
should not act with greater severity or rigour
than the plaintiff is disposed to require him to do, for
that plaintiff must have a better opportunity of know-
ing the circumstances of the case than he can possibly
do, and will be found much oftener to require the
curb than the
_spur in his anxiety to obtain full
satisfaction of his demands.

A correspondent, whose communication will be
found in another part of our impression, has stated a
case which, if well founded, is deserving of imme-
diate notice. If there be no material point omitted in
the report, the presiding Judge has much to answer
for, and if such practice should be repeated, a feeling
of indignation will be excited against a code under
which such abuses are possible that must eventually
lead to its repeal or modification. We have had
enough of Palace " leniency" and " forbearance." Let
us not see the County Court Judges regarding cases
I brought before them through a similar medium. An
institution that might be a great public benefit may
become a scandal and opprobrium to the nation.

1111 E FREINCht REPUBLIC.

''he have received the Paris journals of yesterday.
The High Court of Versailles pronounced judg
ment on Thursday par contumace against the accused
of the 13th June who have not surrendered. The.
whole of them, Jardigon, Buverdier, Cmur de Roy,
Thore, Jules Lechevallier, Ch. Delecluze, Ribeyrol-
!es, Servient, Gongeon, Morel, Madier de Montjau
jE une, Tessier•Dumothay, Ledru Rollin, Victor
Considei'ant, Boichot, Rattier, Beyer, Pflieger, Avril,
Martin Bernard, Kcenig, Rongcot Menaud, Lan
aulphe, Hofer, Kopp, Anstett, Rolland, Cantagrel,
Heitzmann, Jannot, Felix Pyat, Kersausie,
Etienne Arrago, and Perrier, have been sentenced to
transportation for life. _ _ _

M...PROUDHON has roused the ire of his brother
Socialists by the publication in the Voix du Potpie of
the following observations on the conviction of the
accused of the 13th June by the jury of the High
Court of Versailles : ,

" We do not hesitate to say, although the declaration
may excite much hatred against us, tats it was owing to
the un-heard• of an guilty determination of the counsel.
A' hen it was necessary to justify the good faith of the
prisoners, to show that the constitution had been violated
ny the m"jority and by the Government; when the
question was consequently to lay down and defend the
.appeal to the people, the right of pacific and legal neani-
testetion, the only point that was in question, the counsel
preferred to raise the argument, doubtful in its kind, and
in all cases perfectly useless, of the right of insurrection.
When Republican dignity commanded that the charge
should be deprived at any price of its last pretext, the,
counsel considered that it was better for the defence
co withdraw before a decision, which only imposed
limits to their chattering, than to expose themselves
to a condemnation doubtless possible, but which.
after • the solemnity of the dtreureion, would
have le come for every one unjust in its ground-
et/tele—unjust in all end everywhere. Now, thanks
to the Montagsard (Tun:A.llin, tt.o high jurymen may
acv, while they rub their hands, Thank Heaven, we
2-. ave not condemned innocent men ! Thu conspiracy
lietreyed itself by the mouth of the counsel employed for
the defence ; the insurrection was plainly laid down be-
ton! es— Htibuimus confitentes eos.' Contrary to what
ought to have taken place, the prisoners have been sacri -
ileed to their counsel, absolutely as a patient dies to save
the reputation of his physician. We certainly do not
!swan to give our approbation to the sentence which has
just been delivered by the High Court, any more than
the policy which has been followed by the Government
or more than a year ; but it must be confessed that on
this emission 'the Revolution has been betrayed by its
own partizans. After having committc d suicide politically
in the public street, the Mountain has now done it morally
before the High Court. What, in fact, is this premeditated
retreat of the counsel charged with the defence but
3 judicial 13th of June? What could be the objects of
these strange tactics? Let them utter as much as they
lilts the high-sounding phrases of liberty of defence,
right of counsel, dignity of the robe, tyranny of the
court, the solidarite of the defence, con reueity of
system, discipline of opinions—all that, in our eyes, is
only a vain disguise, under which is concealed, in the
place of a true love for the Republic, the most absurd
of all despotisms—that of party spirit. God forbid that
we should, by the severity of our remarks, aggravate the
grief of the condemned, any more than the remorse of
the counsel; but we cannot prevent ourselves from say-
inz that, in the present case, both prisoners and counsel
have failed in their duty. Why did not Guinard, Fores-
tier, Pilhes, Langlos, all, in fact, whom we have heard
from the commencement of the trial protest as to the
pacific character of the manifestation, rise after the
decree delivered against the conclusions of the counsel,
and declare to the Court that, as their intention had
never been any other than a pacific manifestation, they
could not conceive the utility of pleading in their defence
the right of insurrection?"
It is said to be the intention of the P ItESIDENT to
extend the amnesty on the 10th December to all poli-
tical persons convicted of offences, including those
excluded from the recently published amnesty, the
convicted of Bourges and of Versailles, and the exiles
of England, Belgium, and Switzerland.
PARIS BOURSE, FRIDAY, Nov. 16.

The market closed as follows:—Threes, 56f. 95c.;
Fires, 89f. 80c.; Rouen, 5271. 50c.; Havre, 235 f.; Great
Northern, 437 f. 50c.; Avignon, 221 f. 25c.; Vierzon,
300 f.; Bale, 1031. 75c.; Bordeaux, 4001.; Paris and
Strasburgh, 350. 25c.; Tours and Nantes, 2801.

BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, Nov. 16.

Boulogne and Amiens, 53/4 —Namur and Liege, 53/4 -
Orleans and Bordeaux, 2'34—Sambre and Meuse,

SPAIN.
Madrid journals;of the 11th have arrived.
A reconciliation has been patched up between
CHRISTINA. and the KING CONSORT.
The Bolsa waa closed on the 11th.

GERMANY
AND

ME NORTHERN STATES.
PRUSSIA.

The Upper Chamber on the 18th adopted the new
Game Law. This new law provides that only land-
owners of compact estates, comprising more than
three hundred acres, shall possess the right of killing
game in their own lands ; the remaining lands of a
parish are to be created general hunting districts.
Every person possessing the privilege of killing game
must take out a licence, which is to cost a dollar
(2s. 7d.) annually. The sums accruing from the
purchase of licences are to be added together, and it is
to remain for a future law to determine whether and
how far they shall be employed in compensating the
former possessors of this privilege for the damage they
Lave suffered from the abolition of the law.

llerr VENEDY, the well•known author and Member
of the German Parlian:ent, was expelled from Berlin
on the 10th by the authorities.
The Prussian Staats Anzeiger announces that by
desire of the Minister of Commerce, the Chief
Councillor of Finance, accompanied by M. LERITZE,
the Chief Architectural Engineer, left for England
on the 11th. The object of their journey relates to
the intended construction of the two large bridges
across tho Vistula and Rogat at Dirshau and Marian-
burg and that across the Rhine at Cologne. They
intend inspecting the interesting construction of the
new railway bridges in England, especially those of
Fairburn and Stephenson.