The Sun.
London, England, 1846-08-20 00:00:00

1P... ...11,4

eau' to human nat are, they had been pleased and at-
tache ato him. If thrny were to try kindly treatment—
gene) eau treatment— rewards for good conduct, the
most. agreeable resul is would be produced. On the
othrar hand, if men we re treated as brutes, or something
worse—if no confide, ice were reposed in them—if they
w ere treated as ind'eviduals not possessed of those qua-
lities or sentiments which actuated human beings—such
treatment invariably begot moroseness and a savage
disposition ; and such was precisely the feeling which
was to be expee' red. They could, in fact, feel nothing
but contempt towards the perpetrators of such cruel
practices, wh'Ach were against all justice. That which
the meeting wished to promote was that a new system I
should be a dopted in the army, and that instead of the
present cr aelty of government, they ought to have an-
other of a different nature ; and that instead of giving
to the officers the power of punishing their men, they
should give them the power of pleasing them, and
rendroing them good and effie!ient servants to the nation.
The English public weve 'fully aware of the arduous
duties of a soldier, to vil'ittt dangers he was exposed.
They knew that his life was but a short one, and that
de ring that life he wa4 'but ill paid for the services to his
wintry. Such a m arAing as the present one, actuated
only by a desire to, ?ender a service to those whom they
believed to be sula,,ected to an unjust punishment, must
speak in a voier, of thunder to the nation. He had al-
ready explairied the moral effects of the punishment,
and its phr ',teal results were notorious. It ought not,
therefore, to exist, even in its present mitigated form.
It had dr (hulled from 1,000 and 1,500 to 50 lashes, and
even th' At endangered the life. The 150 lashes inflicted
upon t ,fiat unfortunate man, whose death had been the
cause, of their meeting there, was the application of
upwiards of 1,200 knots of the thong upon his skin.
t them look at the application of a thong with only
o' se knot upon a horse, and they could not be such de-
r LIOIIS as to continue the punishment.—(Cheers.) The
date of the warrant under which he suffered was the
26th of April, and he was not punished until the sth of
June. He would not have adverted to the circumstance,
but for the unjust attacks which had been made against
him (Mr. Wakley).—(Cheers.) He thought that, after
these attacks, he was justified in de'eng so.—(Cheers.)
The tribunal under which these ur,fertunate men were
tried, was self-constituted, and the 'Acquittals were there-
fore not one in thirty. It was n et, however, his object
to attack individuals, but a system which he believed to
be injurious to the army an& navy, and was a disgrace
to a Christian country.—(e'neers.) It was against the
system-that they should d'aect all their hostility, and in
doing so, they attacked., and furiously too, the indivi-
duals by whom it wa,„ upheld. They, who upheld it
knew the horror an''A the danger of the system, and
when the voice of the people was raised against the
system, where was the Government who, whatever
might be the fe ding in other quarters, would dare to
oppose the nati anal will? Every man in England, how-
ever poor, we s ready to contribute his mite to the relief'
of the selfYeer, because he felt that they were his
brothers—
-(Cheers)--and, leaving out of the question
national pride and national glory, the poor man felt
that Je nation was insulted by the continuance of the
prac' ,ice. A letter was that day published in the Times,
sig* 'led V, stating that the writer had been thirty-six
Y' tars in the army, and was then in command of a regi-
taent, and could confidently speak from experience that
'the discipline of the army_ could be maintained with-
-out such a brutal punishment. He had seen men
flayed alive.—(Great sensation.) He had seen a man
receive seven hundred lashes at once ; the last
two 'hundred were given while the man was in
a st•ate of insensibility, and apparently dead, and for
ceght he could know, dead in reality.—(Hisses.) lle
hoped that there would be very little more war.—
<Cheers.) He had not the least objection to plenty of
soldiers and sailors in times of peace. War was a system
«of national flogging, and as he did not like to see the
:backs of soldiers mutilated, he hoped there would be
no occasion for mutilating them in times of war.—
(Cheers.) He knew there were many regiments in
which a case of flogging had not occurred for the last
twenty years.—(Cheers.) Yet, curious enough, the re-
turns of those regiments had been refused in that very
curious House, the House of Commons. He supposed
that they wished to withhold from the officers and the
men that credit which was justly due to them—(Cheers)
—and the parties who refused those returns might
perhaps think that it would operate prejudicially to the
character of those regiments where the practice of
flogging was kept up.—(Cheers.) (A voice—" Move
for a return.") He should like to know why such prin
ciples should not be acted upon in all the regiments.
He did not think these regiments were commanded by
what is called " stern officers," but by officers who con-
sidered and treated the men as human beings.—(Cheers.)
With these remarks he would conclude all he had to say
upon the subject, entreating those present to hear all
parties, and if there should be any difference of
opinion, then let them not give rise to angry feelings.
If they could not sustain their case by argument it was
not sustainable at all. If the meeting considered that
they adopted the right course by their present pro-
ceedings he hoped that this would prove a good be-
ginning, and that they would go on and continue the
work till they were completely triumphant.—(Cheers.)
The Hon. Member then read a letter from T. Collett,
Esq., M.P. for Athlone, as follows :
" Dear Sir—Will you be kind enough to hand the en-
closed draft for five guineas to John Mathewson, as a
testimonial of my approbation of the honest and inde-
lendent manner in which he gave his evidence upon the
ate inquest at Hounslow. —Yours, faithfully,

" JOHN COLLETT."
The Hon. Chairman then went on to say that he had
heard Mathewson upon a former occasion, and from the
manner in which he gave his evidence, he felt that he
could not but believe his testimony.—(Cheers.) He had
never acted, and he never would act, upon the principle
that a man, because he was rich, was to be believed upon
his oath, and that a man, because he was poor, was
not to be believed. It should not be forgotten that a
private, of the name of Cook, had been singled out from
among the regiment, and in the face of his
comrades was told that he was all but guilty
of perjury, when he gave his evidence upon thd
late inquest at Hounslow. He really thought that those
two unfortunate men, Mathewson and Cooke, should be
released from their services.—(Loud cheers.) He did
not like to advert to any circumstance which had trans./
pired upon that occasion, but there was an anecdote of
poor Mathewson which he would relate. There was
some testimony between Mathewson and the command=
ing officer, and the latter had witnesses to support what
he stated, and Mathewson had none. Mathewson stated
with the utmost naiveté, " It is very true, there wa4
this interview, but I will take care when I hare a pri;
rate interview with the commander I will have a wit-1
flees too."—(Laughter and cheers.) The Chairman theri
read a leter from Luke Hansard, inclosing a cheque fort
201. in favour of the objects of the society.—(Cheers.) l
A series of resolutions, as follows, were then read by
the Chairman :
" That the practice i f scourging and lacerating tht)
bodies of soldiers and sailors, with the cat-o'-nine-tailsi
is at once cruel and disgusting, and a disgrace to thq
British nation."— (Cheers.) ,
"That the constitutional danger of maintaining
standing army in time of peace is exactly proportions
to the extent to which the soldier loses the character an
feelings of a citizen."—(Cheers.)
" That in the deliberately formed opinion of thi#
meeting the will of the British nation has decreed that
the practice of flogging in the British army and navi
shall, at once and for ever, be abolished."—(Cheers.) I
"That it is now universally known and admitted that
a sentence of flogging may prove to be a sentence of
death, and that thus a capital punishment has been, and
might again be, inflicted for a trifling, insignificant, an
even a ' halloa' offence."—(Cheers.)
" That as substitutes for floggings, degradation
and savage punishments, this meeting earnestly an
fervently recommends the adoption, by the Governmen
and the commander-in-chief, of short periods of enlis
went, and rewards and promotions for good conduct, i
the firm belief that the adoption of a benignant and
generous behaviour towards soldiers and sailors, woul#
beget in them a spirit of honourable bearing, and hig
moral sentiments ; and that to allege that the means or
bestowing rewards in the army and navy for good conr
duct would not be cheerfully granted by the peop!e of
this country, is a gross libel on the generosity and judg-
ment of the British nation."—(Cheers.)
F. LENTHALL, Esq., would not be guilty of the gross
impertinence, after the able speech they had heard frog
their chairman, of detaining them at any length. M
considered that the time was come when this barbarouls
and disgusting treatment sheuld cease. The press
ne
mode of punishment he did not consider.as calculated tis
operate in a beneficial manner; it was calculated tp
create a feeling of moroseness and revenge.—(4
Voice—" Move, and cut it short.") He would ado*
the hint which had been thrown out, and would ther '
fore move the resolutions which had just now been rea
Mr. G. THOMPSON, in seconding the resolutions, se:
that it was not his intention to have addressed t
meeting upon the present occasion; he should, therefor ,
content himself with simply seconding the resolution.
Ile did not adopt that coarse out of any disrespect to the
purposes of the present meeting, but there were those
present whom they might never have an opportunity Of
hearing again, and it would be an act of injustice in him
• to detain the meeting from that pleasure.—(Cheers.)
. In-answer to a question put to the Chairman, hp
stated, that in law White received but one punishment
for the offence.
Dr. Catteisez wished to ask a question of the Chair-
man, and could tot help, at the same time, alluding to
his manly conduct in another capacity. The question,
which he wished to be distinctly understood, toed, was • h
reference to the statement made by the Hon. Chairman
with
He wished to know whether-the warrant for the trial of.
White had been signed a considerable time- before the
offence was committed ? He also wished to know why
' the Hon. Chairman, in his capacity of coroner, had not,
as was usual with him, issued his warrant for the appre-
hension of those persons who had inflicted the lashes
which the jury had stated had caused the death of private
White ?
--- Mr. WA KLET said, that with reference to the warrant,
be had stated that it was dated on the 26th April, and
the crime was committed in June. Such was the state
- of the law, with respect to the second question, he
would state, that if a verdict of wilful murder had been
'returned by the jury, he would unhesitatingly have
= issued his warrant for the apprehension of the parties
concerned.—(Loud cheers.)
Mr. BRIDGEMAN, M.P., said that he once commanded
a body of grenadiers, and up' n one occasion he called
: his men together, and said that he had the power to flog,
but he was determined net to use it ; he had net done so
•`, upon any occasion, and he wished to know why, in the
' fare of these facts, flging in the army could not be
• abolished ? He hoped that the degrading system of
flogging would soon be removed, and that every elector
should press upon their candidates the necessity of their
' voting for its abolition.—(Loud cheers.)
Mr. JOHNSON NEIL, now of the bar, but late of the
navy, next addressed the meeting, and said he was glad
- to see a stand, a determined stand, being against a
4 eptenz which be had all Igo 0 cleoao4..ii