The Sun.
London, England, 1804-12-26 00:00:00

HALF-PAY OFFICERS,

The particular situation of Ftalf.pay Officers being
frequently ovule the topi9 of conve.r•atinn, we suh.
mit the 1011, '.ving Observations, extraded from Car.
jantes's Compalliot, to the considera.
tion of our Military Readers

" There are many possible cases which might
arise in which Half.pay Officers would he left Out
of the re ,cl.l of any law or regulation on account of
miscondutt For instance (to repeat our own words),

suppose an Officer on Flaif.pay, and dressed in the
unifnrrn of the corps to which he tance belonged,
should an far forget himself, at court or in any other
public place, as to be guilty of a breach of good
manner, but not sufficiently gross or criminal to
come within the cognizance" of the civil, power, we
would ask, how is such an Officer to be tried 2 What
mere law cannot reach, the received rules of honour,
and the specific Artieles of War, have amply pro.
vided agains'. But, according to the &thine here
laid down, and indeed according to the decision of
the Twelve. Judges, in Ross's case, and of the present
Judge. Advocare of England, a delinquent on half.pay
is not amenable to any military tribunal, and may.
do that at a review, in a public theatre, Or even at
court, under the eye of his Sovereign, for which an
(Aker on full.pay would be tried, and probably

cashiered. We are prepared to meet a general reply
which will be given to this case. His Majesty, it
will he said, can exercise his prerogative, and strike
the offender off' the list.. This is
.unquestionable;
our would w. attempt to enter info any discussion
on µo nice and delicate a point as that of punishing
a British Subjeci without any fyrm of trial, ,and
without even the existence ot military 1,3 w, there
are certain circumstances, and, al),.ve all, eertain
times, Like the present, when the Executive Power
ought to have a considerable latitude.. Jr is-a lati•
tulle which the Constitution may, affnci, and which;
we are persuaded, will. never he abused by the pre.
sent possessor of it. Nevertheless, it were most
devoutly to he wished, that something more specific,
and more diretl could be determined on with regard
to fialf.pay Officers. Whether the allowance be

for past services, in the shape of colleasajioist or
be considereii as a reta;Prissi fee. import.
to nor question: they are, to all irtnti:lind pur.
poses, military men, ()rat Ictst oughAti:shive been
so before they quitted the active dctiis.,,l,Co)air pro..
fession ; and, consequently, they shoilltile liable
to that code of laws whiCh has been,enatied for the

•
support and maintainanee of good-
Nder and disci.
pline*. When justice can be tion,Without the
necessity of going into atl)itraty makings, except
in 'moments of great emergency, its most' amiable
channel is that of a fair and honest investigation;
for we must always believe, that as the Crown iq
the fountain of honour, it is also. the seat of mercy ;
and nothing can be' 60 truly wounding to. an :inde.
pendent mind, as to feel 'that eharaeler and fortune,
under circumstances of possible misrepresentation,
may be lost by a 'single fiat, when', perhaps, a calm
judicial inquiry would have rescued bosh. 'fir all
everus, policy and. public good require tharthis
class of men should be at the disposal. of the Crown
on several occasions ; and reason points oot how,
by a single motion in Parliament, every difficulty
might be removed.
41 Among a variety of other possible cases; let us,
for the sake of elucidation, look at the relative si.
tuation Of an,Officer with his regiment, and another
on half-pay, under the same circumstances of
condna. We will suppose the former to have been
the Superior Officer before the latter was reduced,
or went upon half.pay by exchange, Lire'. and that
bad blood had existed between them. We need not
point out the certain consequence which world have
attended both parties alike, had they, while in the
regiment, made their appeal to the sword r pistol ;
but we must ask (suppo,ing a challenge to have been
given by the Half-pay Officer to his heretofore Com.
mantling Officer, and their intentions to have been
so tar fulti!led that they met and fought), what the
consequence woold be to the former, in a military
point of view ? It he cannot be tried; how is the
&cold of justice to he !talented between them ? The
Officer uo full•pay may be tried And cashiered ; the
Otlic,er half.pay, on the contrary, though,guilty
of the same offeoce, and perhaps the aggressor, is
not amenable tc, any military, ttihunal ; and we all
know, that where no mischief has been done, the
parties are generally left to themselves by the civil

power..
64 Hence it is evident, that a man on balf.pay,
harbouring reaentment against an Officer no full-pay,
may insult him, and then fight him, without run.
ning the hazard of a Court.martial .; whilst his an.
tagonist is exposed to the most summary proceed.
ings. It will be said, indeed, that the -King has
the power of striking the former off the hall.pay list.
But, surely, when the fait channel of justice can
be opened, it would be more consonant to the mild
character of British jurisprudence, and to, the ami.
able attribute of Royal mercy, to let the culprit be
openly arraigned .for his ,offence. We cannot,
therefore, help concluding, that every species of
military charatter, most especially every individual
who cmi wear the honourable badges of his proles.
sion, ought to.be amenable to military jusfice. One
ad of the Legishrture, on the motion of the Secre.
tary of War, tuight put an end get the ridiculous
questions which are afloat respecting the nature of
11411413 y
,: For, if it be considered as a compensa.
tion for past services, how shall we reconcile to
common sense. or justice to the public, the cases of
some !motive& on that establishment who have never
served at all I And if it be, what it certainly is,
a eetaining fee, where is the wisdom or the policy
of leaving an individual with more latitude aeon.
duet during st temporary state of inactivity than is
given to those with whom he hag formerly served,
and who, according to what is understood at head.
quarters, may be called upon to serve again."

This sort 'of tessoping my be appliceito'the Votun-
teers, of whum so much has been said and written, and so
little is understood.
_