The Sun.
London, England, 1847-04-26 00:00:00

which he thought he ought not to have done then, as it
was not before the House. The Bill must not be
considered as a single or isolated measure, but
taken in connexion a ith other measures, of
which it formed only a part. During the
last twenty years a series of measures had
been brought' forward which had for their object the
raising the character of the army, and improving the
condition of the soldier. The Noble Lord, however, to
whom he referred, argued that no such improvement had
taken place, and he regarded it as great presumption
on the part of the Government to deal with such a
subject. But, with all deference to that Noble Lord, he
(Earl Grey) was of opinion that the Government, from
the opportunity they had of communicating with the
most eminent and distinguished military officers, were
able to obtain such advice, and to receive such sugges-
tions as rendered theta qualified to treat the question in
all its bearings and experience, had proved that it had
done so, not only without injury, but with great
benefit to the army. When the Noble Lord con-
tended that there was no necessity for these measures,
As the army was in a highly effeciive and excellent
he (Earl Grey) was compelled to differ from him,
conceived that there was not only great room but
andstat state,
great need for these improvements. lie did not, however,
mean, in giving expression to that opinion, to disparage in
any degree the merits and excellencies of the British army.
To show the fallacy of the argument of the Noble Mar-
quis, who said that breathe the army had been victorious,
perfect, he might appeal
was then a:nong them—the
thatu anthilelruesft;•
oroeutshweistyn'esstesmwhwoas
Noble Duke, who sat on the cross benches, in his de-
spatches, which were at once the best and the most
authentic records of his great achievements, and the
most imperishable moettenent of his fame—had repeatedly
described the difficulty with which he had to struggle
in consequence of the defects of the army which
he commanded, and be svould say that they could not
fully appreciate the achievements of the Noble Duke,
and the debt that the country owed him, if they did not
remember what those difficulties were, and if they did
not understand that the Noble Duke bad to a great
extent to create the means by which these splendid
victories were gained. He had to discipline and instruct
both the officers and soldiers whom he commanded, and
who formed the army at the head of which, in the
course of a few years, he rolled back the tide of con-
quest which had flowed so nearly over the whole Penin-
sula, and terminated upon the plains of Waterloo, in that
memorable contest, the war which he had commenced
upon the shores of the Atlantic. The Noble Duke was
the best witness of the system to be pursued in the army
in those days. It would he in the recollection of many
who were still in the army, that in those days the lash
was unfortunately made the instrument of maintaining
the discipline of the army, and by which all offences,
both great and small, were punished. While for more
serious cases the lash was used with a degree of severity
from which they at present recoiled with horror, there
were instances in which this punishment had been
inflicted with great severity so lately as the year 1825,
when a general court-martial awarded a sentence of
no less than 1,900 lashes to be received, and of which
sentence, no fewer than 1,200 were actually inflicted.
It was many years before any change took place in this
state of things. An alteration was made in the system
in the year 1818, by which it was made illegal to bring
out the man a second time, in order that he might re.
ceive those lashes which before he was not able to bear.
In the year 1833 Lord Hill restricted the infliction of
corporal punishment to a very small number of offences.
In the Mutiny Act of 1836, the number of the lashes,
in the power of any court martial to inflict,
was limited to 200, and in the autumn of the last year
an order had been issued, very properly, by the Noble
Duke on the cross benches, restricting the number of
lashes, for any offence, to fifty. Such were the changes
which bad been introduced in the system from the
year 1833. Great improvements had also been
made in the system of imprisonment of the soldiers con-
sequent upon the diminution of the punishment of the
lash. He would then call the attention of the House to
the great improvements which bad also taken place in
the comforts and condition of the soldier with respect to
barrack accommodation.