The Sun.
London, England, 1812-12-11 00:00:00

deney soviloie:.ceinimission was of the Oldest date.
j'The order in qncstinn did not tetul to- violate- the
t law, becatise it gives German officers no one a&-
vailtage in rank, promotion, or duration of ser:-.
vice. The Noble Lord- tuip,lit then ask, what the.
intention of the order was ? The intention of the
Commander. in Chief, and what was understood by
the German officers themselves, was that the rank
of the Superior officers should be rendered perma-
nent instead of temporary; and thus to pay them a
compliment, which they well merited. The acK -
.vantage o,liich it gave t4ent was pueely one of
honour and distinetiOri ; for it would certainly he
most, gratifying ttitheir feeling's to have-the satis.L
faction of retaining; after peace, the title of that '
rank-Which they held &Hug the time of their
service. The intention of e motion appeared to
be merely that of displaying the sentiments ,of the
Noble Lord, and many of his friends, on the
question of einploying foreign troops in the Bri-
tish service. iK,Yet it was possible for persons who
'were quite as warmly attached to the Constituthm
as the Noble Lord; to differ from his opinient on
this question. He was sUrprised that any 'person
who considered the present situation of this coun-
try, both with regard to the extent of its territo
ry, and the magnitude of the operations carried on
by it, should entertain a doubt of the policy of a
_measure Which added so greatly to our military
means. He would wish the_Honburable House
to consider well, who the persons were respect-
ing whom they Were now discussing. Were they
foreigners who obtruded themselves into the Bri-
tish service-to the prejudice of Britiqh officers ?
No-5 they were soldiers, .serving their legitimate
Sovereign, and who came to this kingdom because
their native country had unfortunately been ob-
Jig-ed to submit to a foreign yoke. He would de-
sire 'the House to look to every Gazette, and see
the-noble actions performed by these brave men in
the Service of their' rightful Sovereign, and then let
them consider whether the)' did not deserve the
high compliment. which the order had 'bestowed
upon them. He concluded by observing, that
the Noble Lord had shown no proper cause why
why his motion should be agreed to. Mid ;with
regard to any motion for a return of the number,
of the German officers in our service, he had no
objection to produce such a one as had been _given
last year.

Mr. PON:iONE3 V said, that he must object to the
latter 1),(11 of, the Noble LOrd (Palmerston's)
speech. He would appeal to the Noble Lord's re-
collection if one syllable had been by the Noble
Mover respecting thepolicy of employing German
troops in the British :service. The 'N-nble Lord
(Palmerstone) alluded to. something which, had
passeclin a debale upon the seine subject in the
last Session,
,of Which debate, he believed, not two
Members then present had • heard one word. He
felt much, pleased at the explanation that had been
given by the irc b e Lord that night, and was now
convinced; frOm that explanation, that there was
nothing illegal in this order. It was intended,
it appeared, merely fcv a.compliment to the Ger-
_man officers. Ile Was not, however, surprised
that inforination ninon the should have been de-
sired by the Noble Lord (Folkstone),.for he ter-
, tainly was mot the only one that misunderstood
the language in which the order Was conveyed.
vio-w Irerpea•rtittlear-the word permanent, in the
War'Office had a different meaning to that in which
it was usually receited, and that it meant nothing
more than teinprary. This was a novel construc-
tion, and if the Noble Lord (Palmerston) had re-
ceived the office, which he discharged with so
much ability underJhe condition of its being per-
manent, and. should be deprived of .it in one year
after the cessation of war, he doubted much whe-
ther that Noble Lord could call such an office
permanent. Itowever,.if nothing inure was meant
by the Order than, that mentioned by the Ndble.
Lord, lie coldd, nest but consider it as 'perfectly
harmless,. if the German Officers could consider
such a privilege as a reward; he was glad of it ;
but it so, he must:say-that they were the most
asintereSted iOldiers be • had ever heard of. In'
truth, the ward permanent was not accurate when
applied to any part of the- military establishmen6.
of the eriuntry; for be thanked God that its ex-
istence was de,pendentupon that House. Know-
ing such to be the fact, he was surprised when, he
saw the word permanent, in the Order, and thought
it must have arisen from something peculiar in
the nature of the German Legion, but was'now.glad
to find that such was not the case. The Noble Lord's
explanation satisfied him that there was nothing
contrary either to the, law or to the Constitution
in the case. He, for one, begged not to be in •
eluded among those who .entertained sentiments
hostile to the employment of such a force as the
German. Legion. Ike had learned, frOM good au-
thority, that they had upon different occasions
distinguished theinSelves,. and that their , Officers
had•freouently given proof of the highest ability.
He could not indulge, any vulgar prejudices against
them, merely upOn 'the ground of their being fo-
reigners. • Still in all free countries it was but na-_
tnral to suppose that some jealousy should exist
upon such a subject. If the purport of tbe Order
was such as it appeared to be, nothing could be
more reprehensible. . It now appeared, however,
quite intelligible and harmless.

Sir H. MILD NI AY had no objection to the em-
ployment of .German troops, wider- proper regu-
lations ; he would, however, .vote•for the motion
of his Noble'Friend, Lord Fol}sstone.
Lord Alu_,ToN Said, that whatever may. be the
policy of employing German troops, he thought
it highly iMproper that they should be raised to
the command of districts,, as in the case of Gen.
Linsengen. •
LardPALMERSTON said, that by a particular ar-
ticle, the officers' of the German Legion may take
command as if their rank was permanent. The
truth, hoWei'er, was, that the General alluded to
by•the Noble Lord (Milton) never did .command
a district ; there was however nothing in the law
of the land to prevent it.
'Lord MILTON wished to know whether he did
nott command after Lord Chatham. •
Lord PALMEP,STON answered, that he com-
manded merely the depot of the German Legion.
The lion. General STEWART did not see why,
if entrusted. with the counna.na of troops abroad,
the same trust may not be reposed in them at
home. There was only one feeling with regard
to the merits pf the German troops in the British
Service, and he believed if the army were eau-