The Sun.
London, England, 1836-04-14 00:00:00

__________-
scetrsiticEtiiigss—tarootnygnlyo,;------ttliliact
sla:otfl—mp—tutlischainti_theareralatiasrt:tif loiliri:el
eystein it was avowed practically to tbe so.diers t .
2 He did.
" Did he receive his corporal punishment .
I 1 card no
peerresvirovuosuilydinnout,seo.r could not, maintain the scale of punishment
"NO that put an end to that sort of feelieg?--- , l_e wa, a
theaa4c ttul :seine/
t.l
„ii_°::
more of it. But the soldiers must have seen that inuenrishoint
great difference in the application of the scale of
" Did you happen to sit on that Court-martial?_l aPP
tqluiairitefrrso.m what it would have been if they staid beleciiitenind
not. I was, in tact, the accuser', the prosecutor.
loefr"itpssoldiers
all on
cannot
service, or from some opinion that the man deserved a.lpeu,'_,".
meta of that amount only ? I cpwauannsni
thanon
not
tohleib
etoilciniegnaksaitodhlviaitsjaubslteifi punishmentetdo,
.al2
ink; of the officers of the court-martial. My feeling "I,' denel
the act of the soldier was an act of gross weeny or
timete in
to mutiny. I believe I may say it is almost the only
I uniswhich, I have brought forward a soldier for corp Ora. el
y,
went, but in this instance I did bring him forward
while OR
being the -officer on the watch, and having beard it "
awarded
WTI idifairctorm:
ment was in consequence of the sense the officers bin! t '
duty. My impression was, that the smallness of thewytoti:lstlll:e
inapplicability of corporal punishment at a time like tha ~ on
You are not aware of having heard that repeated?----i
not. I certainly heard no more of that kind." of tai
Now, in this case what mattered the slightness
punishment, if it effected the purpose ?—( Hear.)
case, too, it appeared that the corporal punishments nip
t;o_
end to the party feeling that prevailed. And now, hoiivrale_r;
instances were evidence to prove that corporal punis 1
..11,Le
failed in the army, he, to the last day of his life, shoaudiutio"
unable to conjecture.—( Hear, and laughter.) He h Ho,
read the evidence of the Hon. and Gallant Member for
the,
and he thought it quite conclusive the other way; but iotnne..
were to handcuff soldiers, and order them to solitary eofn of
ment, while on service, what, he would ask, was to bee in
another
the corps? He should now race to the evidence of
.had
military officer, Lieut. Blood, a person of great merit, wn?
d thiS
risen from the ranks; and upon flogging he was site
In !II:at
question :—yourself
" When you enlisted, were you sensible
liable to this punishment if you misconducted yourself '
Most unquestionably I was. ,that Bream-
" Was any impression made on your 'mind by
coed("aet
stance when you enlisted ?—No ; I knew I should ins it,
myself properly ; I never felt the necessity of considertinver,
as far as my own feelings were in question. I' re,„. in
under any circumstances, for one moment a prowl'"
guard-house, or elsewhere." • a cor-
yeti made _
This he thought was perfectly conclusive for retainulz,
_Le,
poral punishments. It was the opinion of this officer that
were more necessary in the field, for he says—" It aPretrietieg
have had a very desirable effect ; if the power of 1° jaw/
this corporal punishment was not in force, it is mild6lln I coo-
that it would be attended with the most serious fantnarni,
sequences, and particularly so in the field before tl,l°,,e,treying
" You think it would have had the effect 01 „T"e' i do,
the energy of that regiment upon that occasion 7-- 'ebsa'racters
considering what was the description of some of ti* c nowt'
we had to do with then ; and if it was not instantly' P,_'ol and
in the summary way he was, it would have induced Pi . la
others to set all their officers and all authority at tle6attn‘cept 1°
this month I also witnessed another drum-head punis"eifles,
the division, on the line of march, on three of the 9.5tu
~t,,. allY
by order of Major-General Robert Crawford. While %.iati°°
marching these men fell out for water, which was 111f-iiotecl
of his orders. He had two or three dozen lashes 'Toshio,
This had the desired effect also. No soldier of that "'witted
for more than two years I was marching with it after with
for
a breach of that order. Now surely men are not hi sod the
such crimes as these, when a few lashes are etrect°';ither P,,,,ta-
men preserved; and yet, under such circumstancPs'e-ee call,'"
nishment must be put in force. There is no other t,efete we
established for immediate example on the march, of P-
enemy." -.oral
Now, what is the opinion of General Evans--that c'clutoo,
punishment cannot be done without in the field. 1.111,1;1 the
was said by General Evans, who, it was well known9.-ereelit'
strongest objection to the infliction of such a n°llls,:re cll4°
There coula be no doubt that coy oral punishments vi",,'d thas
liked by the officers of the army. P Was it to be suPP°es-elings
the gallant men who were examined were lost to the blood
of humanity ? that they wok a pleasure in shedding the 00
of their follow-creatures ? Nothing was, or could the
000
abhorrent to their feelings than such punishments, sefit.atioll•
could have a greater dislike than they had to their in n-eotieg
He could not describe their feelings better than h„,Y,:I Ocour
tmheemwboerrdtshoefn
read Sir
tHheenrfyolloVwainneg
euxptornactthifsropinointth.o
0.'1:4°0,0 til
Sir H. Vane : egee'
~ You have been questioned with respect W th..,6 ro-
of the alteration of the punishment in the army', f_tl)reae coat
of
poral punishment to solitary confinement, in gam, 'at:"
home. Do you conceive that an alteration of that t Oil
could be effected when the army is in the field, arid thbea to,
discipline of the army could be kept up? It Must ho 10
terly impracticable. I think my brother officers, W.„, Os!
members of this commission, will all agree with 01e lithst .1,
statement. I will put a case as an example. It than
battle ol
was ordered to conduct from Toulouse, after the %,511,
someaTr omuyl o.
artillery,useto
marched
aoarunclhdoegdtnhee themand
ma
tteoirnieCalais,itwoof
tc wholehotelhueDinunksDuke
t°fil or
of;to.hche cii?.r
set
oor tic;
and emarked them at Boulogne and Calais. By tney,-wa, 0-
maintaining discipline which I had in m • hands, I -are'
abled so to conduct them as to receive so much of thei; lie-
bation of the French Government as to be offered as ° -ejell'''
tion the order of the legion of honour. I will ask any 'tilos°
ber of the commission how I could have conducte,%ooot;
two columns, had the power of inflicting corporal pel°s-eer °'
if necessary, been taken out of my hands, and the po
solitary confinement only substituted in lieu of it? ;•on.
"In point of fact you could not?---That is nil °P,„el unis°-
" Supposing solitary confinement had been the °°Vur 11
ment allowed, how would you have proceeded, 1111.°a1,:tiOn ?---
of marsh through France, to put that into Ov— ~
shouldh eve found it to be utterly impracable." „ice of t"-
Nothing could possibly be clearer than the .1,11,5;,. Otlie6'i,
5
observation. He would now quote the same G°• t
opinion upon another point. ra t° goo
" When you commanded a regiment, did it erre he soldier(
that the infliction of corporal punishment urn t— des of
always carried with it considerable degradation 10 tiled es). °
his brother soldiers ?—I will say of myself, as I•
•shente ' isi
almost every one of my brother officers, that the task
se'ao
flitting corporal punishment was always so painful to ° ',hat
our feelings towards our soldiers were so different from feel'
persons seem to suppose—indeed so much more; ike waiole
ings of a father towards his children (at least t wasivas thei
my own)—that the infliction of corporal punishment.t whe°
most painful duty we ever performed. I never did 1
the ,alia
coofueldxapneipsslieb.ly alvdoiidd iitt.witlVhtehnatlddeigdreite,
ofl dscidveritit)f,°:',,,beinecenciii;l
calculated to make an impression. The degradation " r
a
upon the nature of the crime." .eenee 'd
The same sentiments pervaded the whole of the ev:,:d re'
the volume before the House. If Hon. Gentlemen -.be that
that volume, they would see the universal feeling te'f.,,i„,,thsbt
the punishment of flogging was in itself not disgrac:crerbstt,ea
it was the nature of the offence for which it was leibc.; in °et;
as thieving or swindling, which cast disgrace un°ll I,:eald "".
seen also from the same evidence that the
eyes of both officeis tuid men.—( Hear, hear.) it, a. of till-
punishment was in itself no impediment to future Prue of a
—(Hear, hear.) He would now refer to the evide° he be;
Gallant Relativeir,flictio°ootioe•
110, eoe
of his (Colonel Ferreusson), `l,,,iidest ',,,t
lieved he might say, was a gentleman of the very
le•iatiit---t°llo
most humane disposition, approaching almost to , tha
~..,
at the same time he could add for that Gallant ()fles dutY. I
was a soldier, and as a soldier he had always done 1111,,d h°,°,,i`
( Hear, hear.) Colonel Fergusson stated that that'e._ lthe b',".,
nine or ten cases of corporal punishment inflicte Tnsehor"e'r
Regiment within the last three years for violence,. one i
nation, and conduct of a disgraceful !more, includclg of t
two instances for theft. He would beg the attelltianocee
House 'inri-
evidence :
to the following passage in this Gallant
t and a or°l
" Recourse is now had to solitary confinemen ~ ear
sonment, with or without hard labour, in
punishment, i.n many cases?—Yes, in many cases. t
has b
1..,
" Do you find that the discipline of your reeinents for c°,o
deteriorated by the substitution of those punisloenhaire beta
poral punishment ?—Certainly. More offences the
committed since the restriction has been made. s
rieting ~ re
"Do you find that the late regulations, re twee beet,
power of the commanding officers more than theY, bad ere
have had a good or a bad effect on the discipline' ----'
r r, nisi"
decidedly. rporai ralerring
You think the example more striking of c°, ia det
ment than of imprisonment, and more effectual ot
others from •
lieu 01
co
f he Pea I, • th°
" The effect is greater in consequence 0- t ooge in
being inflicted immediately, and the whole gone thr
effene
presence of all the men ?—Yes, exactly. , vi, the oa
" Where, for reasons, punishment cannot foh° ,•31, ClO ) in
immediately, but must wait for trial by court-rearkl it eastnat
think imprisonment with hard labour, esPc°,;slY tIY earde o°t
a place in the sight of the men, would be sti."lnreallY don
for the object of maintaining discipline ?----I'4°l who liace 00
think it would, for we have instances of leen '''' they e,iays
two or three months in imprisonment, and wrhell.l, four `
out, they will commit the same offence in three 0
ril 1!°-
again. .ved coil to
"Do you not find that men who have two hat ere,et,
nishment have done the same ?—No, we have es the e 1" ~,,
stances,; and I find that the rarity of it increas ,ved corl'.o,l
I have had several instances of men who have rec,,' sir, if Y,01.,
will forget what is past, will feud me
ral punishment, come to me afterwards and saY, can ree'°d to futur„et has ~,
dier ;" and in almost every instance giant' Iccie7ol )‘°bteilei;
proved, and I am confident we have many ins° we have freet
soldiers whose conduct has been so violent thatA
obliged to resort to ' h nt an • nen from -
corporal punts me , _eed trans
has ' •
invariably been good, and often pas saiv.nuid he
committing •
serious offences, for which they '
~ elf
that ion
C
irIP
you le
... it is wog'
lost e •010
ported.--( Hear, hear )
"Do you think that. young man • fer to h°s • the cll.
in the opinion of his comrades ?—Not the least
that injures them in the eyes of each other, not
orts °I
tion of punishment."—( Hear, hear.) ,
Sir Octavius Carey gave it as his opini°,l
punishments, no matter of what nature, wl ' D
it , c
_..d la bof
cloth
of flogging, or solitary confinements witl„:10"
et that (.1c , crave
were ineffectual in the way of example, eo', his aide
ice;on?
alone. This gallant officer, in the course
‘1,1.." C.
Feibrora!
rtloi
fa teesitirasod..,ri 11,1 i
it as his opinion—and in that opinion he ( L'AV ',ion of c°ll,r atel
entirely concurred—that " the constant fl llortl'er'
rendered them indifferent to punishment.' ,
in eettcr rod
that "he thought the army would be kept ,
_feieptlY ,
punishment exercised a brutalising effect
,junpi!enie tsht,cited
de. by
minor punishments, executed certainly and e