The Sun.
London, England, 1841-03-09 00:00:00

MagNING EDITION'

it upon them, but he (Mr. O'Conf
ancoaueltdonfoiteJfouratibeee
present bring hieesell to believe sun
would be committed: From Canada. he would take his
flight to the East Inures. The soldiers of our army in
India were one-half Catholics, and he had had meny
letters addressed to lairn•from them complaining bitterly
of the total want of religious comfort and instruction.
Everybody knew the importance the Catholics attar hed
to the offices of their Church—Protestants and Pres-
byterians were properly provided for ; but there was a
total neglect of the Catholic soldiery in India. Almost
every Commander bad promised them redress, but it
had never arrived, and Sir H. Pane had even refused to
forward a petition from the Mb.. Regiment to the Go-
vernraent. (The Hon. and Learned Gentleman then read
some extracts from a Bengal paper on the suldect.)
The Hon. Baronet was rather angry with him the other
evening for suggesting to him the necessity of altering
his policy towards Ireland. There was not a day pass-
ing that did not convince him that he was right—even
the intelligence which had arrived that day would con-
vince him the more that the Gentleman opposite must
see that they would be committing a fatal error in con-
tinuing an insulting policy towards Ireland. Was it
a period like the present, when they might soon have
occasion to call for an extreme augmentation of the
army that they were to make an enemy of Ireland ?
Ought they not rather endeavour to make her a firm ally
and friend? The Right Hon. Baronet need not sup-
pose that he could ever have the cordial support of Ire-
land unless she was treated with the same fairness as
England. Look at the Municipal all—in this coun-
try not one man who paid one shilling to the poor-rate
but was a burgess, while in Ireland, a man before be
obtained the same privilege must be rated at 101. It
was his duty to .warn them that if another packet
arrived front America with such menaces as that of
that day it would be necessary for them to conciliate
Ireland ; indeed be did not think that in such a case
there was one gentleman, however reckless, who would
persevere in the present insulting and degrading policy.
Sir G. GREY did not mean to enter into the gene-
ral arguments of the Hon. and Learned Member, but
from the position he held he felt bound to say that the
courtrmartial upon Captain Reynolds had acted strictly
according to their duty. He would go further and
say that they had awarded strict justice. They were
appointed for a special purpose, and they had no right
to inquire into provocations which had been given
months or years before.
Sir De LACY EVANS had the pleasure of know-
ing many of the officers who sat on the court-martial,
and knew them to be men of personal honour and
much judgment, but as the Court was for the ti ial of
a captain he thought there ought to have been more
officers of his own rank.—(Hear, hear.) On the con-
trary more than one-half were commanding officers.
lie (Sir De Lacy Evans) did not dispute the finding
of the Court ; but he thought it was highly inconve-
nient for any court-martial to assert the abstract prin-
ciple which had been asserted in this case. The
court-martial had said that no provocation whatever
could excuse disobedience of orders or insubordination.
Although he would be the last to countenance insub-
ordination, he thought it would have been better not
to have laid down the principle, that provocation could
in no instance form a padiation or defence. He was
rather surprised the other evening to hear the Noble
Lord the Secretary for the Colonies say that the great
clamour upon this subject was to be attributed to the
fact that the Commander of the 11th Regiment was a
nobleeaa,n. lie (Sir D.l Lacy Evans) had always cox,-
sidered that rank was a great advantage to a commander.
He believed it we
e much easier for a nobleman to ren-
der himself agreeable to those who were under his
orders, than for any persona of lower rank to do so.
There were many instances in support of his view,
amongst which were those of Lord Anglesey and the
Duke of York. Tnat the Noble Lord should rest his
argument on such a point only showed the meagreness of
the grounds on which he stood. The Right Hon, Gen! !o-
men the Secretary--at-War had stated that it would be
unusual to place r officer on half-pay, because lie had
Ulan under displeasure. He (Sir Da Lacy Evans)
believed it would be found upon inquiry, that there
were many instances in which such a course had been
purested. There were officers in the army at that eery
Cale wile, through having got into some little difficul-
ties, had bea7l placed upon halt'-pay. With respect to
the propriety of affording religious assist ince t) sold:ers
of the Catholic laersuas7en in the E sat Indies, which had
been alluded to in the deba:.°. it, should be remembered
that the principal disorders which. :Iceurred in the army
arose from intoxication ; and if in those nottions of our
possessions where there were no Catholic e.l'rgYmein'
some assistance eouli be given to the soldiery, he
thought it might tend to check that evil.
Mr. WARBURTON could not but think that
there were facts enough before the House and the
pub-
lic, to cll for an inquiry.—( Hear, hear.) In a letter
sent by Lord Hill to the officers of the regiment, ad-
dressed to Lord Cardigan, the commanding officer, it
stated that the regiment was in such a condition that it
was neither useful for domestic purposes nor to be
trusted in the fiald.—( Eh a:, hear.) Was a regiment
to be in that state and no inquiry take place as to the
cause which led to it ? In the debates the other night,
the Gallant Officer, tha Master-General of the Ord-
nance had sta:ed that there was that, though not in the
natter, yet in the mincer, of the commanding officer,
which led to these resdte. On the other han +, it had
been steted with respect to the officers, that there was
a cabal amongst them. Was it not right, under these
circumstances, that' an inquiry should take place?—
(Hear, hear.) He considered these matters as a reflec-
tion, not upon Lord Cardigan, or upon the officers of
the regiment, but upon the Commander-in-Chief of the
Army, who had not instituted a full inquiry into the
subject ; for nothing but a fair and candid inquiry could
put an end to this state of things.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL said that with respect to
what. had fallen from the Hon. Member for Westmin-
ster he quite agreed with him, that high rank was rather
in favour of the commanding officer than against him ;
but what he maintained was that complaints of this na-
ture were more likely to excite public attention, when
the officer was of high rank than when he had been raised
in the service, or did not occupy a commanding position.
In his opinion, in consequence of the situation of Lord
Cardigan, there had been a great deal more made of
tile matter in debate than there otherwise would have
been ; he did not want to enter into details, but if he
were asked what those details were, he should say they
were extteinely frivolous in thetnselves.—(Hear.) Tee
Eon. Member for Bridport had said that there ought
to have been a solemn Court of Inquiry. Now, the
opinion of the Commander-in-Chief was the contrary of
that ; he thought it much better to send down the Ad-
jutant-General to the regiment, for the purpose of de-
claring his opinion of the course that had been pur-
sued ; and he (Lord J. Russell) thought that the ad-
monition that was given by the Commander-in-Chief,
was far more likely in future to induce the officers to
rform their duties effectively, and t 3 live in harmony
with each other, than if an inquiry had taken place,
and the public mind had bean excited on the subject.
With regard to what had been stated by the Hon. and
Learned Member for Dublin, he did not wish them to
enter into the effeirs of Canada • that Honourable
and Learned Member had truly stated that those
affairs were matter of history, and to history he
would leave them.—(Hear, hear.)n
td/..es to
Seminarythe ordinance
.
that had been passed valetivehetoe
Sulpieeethat ordinance had approvedd of by an
eminent officer who had served in .1n , andttte r
eyf e.
cessive Secretaries of State ; it was huta a
jus-
tice to an eminent body of men, and aanm
with it would be considered as an interferyenenewriethrentlo
ce
ordinance, not because it was just aed equitable, but
because a benefit was derived from it by the Roman
Catholics.—(Hear, hear.) He should think such an
interference, considering the state of Canada, most un-
wise and imprudent. He thought they ought to behave
towards the Roman Catholics of that couptrywhi with the
e that ch was
greatest regard—they ought to hat
their due as loyal subjects of the Cro
in Indiaivn.—(HLeeard,ildmaere.t)
As to the Roman Catholic soldiers c
bow what would be done by the East India om
evpaeny
y
or the Government of India, but he thought that
orl.
facility should be given to enable Roman Catholic s
diers to have the assistance of a minister of their own
religion, and every means should be taken to git them
that assistance.
Sir GEORGE GREY said that the Hon. Member
for Bridport had not put a rig's!. construction upon the
proceedings of the court martial.
Sir A. DALRYMPLE felt bound to bear testi-
mony to the excellent state of discipline in which the
11th regiment was, after what had been stated by the
Hon. ISlernber for Bridport. A better behaved or dis-
ciplined regiment never existed.
Sir H. HARDINGE said that the corps was in an
admiratlo state of discipline.
Mr. HUME wished to put a question to the Judge
Advocate-General. He wished to know whether
eri-
dence was not tendered at the court-martial of a
long
series of insults that had bean received by the gallant
officer, and whether it was not usualonsucrh occasions
in order to note down the evidence tendered,that, when
it was brought before the higher tribunal, there might
be questions raised as to whether that evidence did not
give ground for further inquiry. That mate a strong
impression on his mind, for they shut out all the pre-
cious acts of oppression and provocation. He was not
disposed to deny the doctrine that no previous provoca-
tion could warrant an immediate breach of discipline ,
but he would put it to the Right Hon. Gentleman how.
far it was possible to suppose that officers were not
men,and could bear insult without any means of redress
being afforded them. On a former evening he had saidlthat
belted blamed Lord Hill even more than Lord Cardi-
gan, and he had also blamed the Right Hon. Gentle-
man the Secretary at War' whose duty it was not
only to see justice done to Lord Cardigan, but to every
officer in the one
regiment. The whole affair had been a
gross act of injustice towards the officers, and of fa-
vouritism towards Lorindov?wr igs!).
Lord Hill should bare
army—(Hear, hear, and ala In his opinion,
from the command of the
w—and he thought he
should never have been allowed
that command after Lord Grey had
haveassu
assumed
ttihnueedi
Go-
vernment.