Star.
London, England, 1814-11-18 00:00:00

COURT-MARTIAL ON COLONEL QUENTIN.

Colonel PA LMEK, when he first introduced the
subject of the Court. Martial held on Colonel Quentin,
into the House, was not in possession of a copy of its
proceedings. He had now I•rocured one, and should
beg leave to read the partieultr passage to which he
had then alluded as the chief ground of his present
motion. The Hon. Member then read the following
extract from the opinion expressed by the Court-
Martial at the close of its sentence :

" The Court, !Inv/ever, cannot conclude these proceedings
without expressing their regret. that there appears to have
existed such a want of co-operation among the Officers of the
regiment, as to render the duties of the Commanding Officer
much more arduous than they otherwise would have been."
—He begged leave to state, that this opinion, which
cast such an imputation on the Officers of the regi.
ment, was not founded in fact. Its expression was
pat ticulariy hard, as it had been the ground on which
a severe censure and punishment had been passed on
those Officers. H. had origittally intended to put
off entering into and details until the minutes of the
trial should be befOre the House; but, in order to
substantiate the necessity in which he found himself
to bring forward this motion, he should go into the
whole merit of the case. He should, on this occa-
sion, have felt happy had he not possessed a seat in
'that House, because he would then have put the sub-
ject into the hands of another Member, of superior
talents. But holding, as he did, a Seat in rarlia•
ment, and connected, as he was, with the trial itself,
he thought, that had the motion been brought for-
ward by another, it might have been conceived that
it was without either his approbation or his concur-
rence. He therefore upon himself a task, to
the proper execution orthich he feared his abilities
were unequal ; but the House would excuse him,l
and he hooped would honour him with their patience.
He should read the General Order which accompa-
nied the Sentence of the Court Martial, and comment
on the charges themselves in their order. He re-
quested the Right Honourable Gentleman opposite
(Mr. Manners Sutton, the Judge Advocate) to fa-
vour him with his attention, as he considered him,
though how far he was right in so doing he knew
not, as responsible to a certain extent for the nature
of the sentence which had been passed. The Honour-
able Member then again apologised to the House
for the portion of their time he should occupy, though
he should endeavour to confine himself within the
narrowest bounds possible. [He then read the first
Charge against Colonel Quentin, with the sentence
of the Court Martial upon that Charge ; the evi-
dence produced in its support, extracts from the Co-
lonel's defence, and his own reply, which have al-
ready been published in our Paper).—He wished to
have laid the evidence before the House, which would
!tare spared it the trouble of now following him
through its particulars, but he had been informed;

taken in the Court Martial, he had done his duty,
and no more, and it was cnly on accf.unt of the se-
vere censure and punishment passed on the Officenr
who supported the charges, .that he•thonght ft neces-
sary to say something further on the subject. They
bad only wished, as well as he, for an inquiry which
should relieve their own characters from the blame
cast upon them. That was all which they erigioalls
wanted ; but they had been since compelled to bring
forward charges: The Honourable Gentleman then
proceeded to read part of his opening speech to the
Court Martial, in which he declared that the prose.
cutors were not impelled by any unworthy motive,
but solely by the wish of doing justice to their cha-
racters, and called upon Colonel Quentin to do the
same if it was in l.is power. He had thus challenged
that Officer to produce instances of his good conduct,
but he had not availed himself of this opportunity.—
Had he (Colonel Palmer) been more severely dis-
posed against him, he could have brought many
other instances in which he had displayed the same
inattention and incapacity as in the previous charges.
He did not wish to interfere with the sentence of the
Court. He.hadnothing to do with the acquittal of
Colonel Quentin. The Court had a right to form an
opinion of their own ; but he wisbedly•e:ndicate the
Officers from the charge of having withholden their
co-operation from their Commander. The Honour.
abie Member then read ;he 4th Charge against Colo.
nel Quentin, thy sentence of the Court, and his reply
:o the Colonel's defence. He afterwards proceeded
to read such parts of•tlte evidence as tended to excul-
pate the Officers from all blame. Amongst these
were tber Cavalry Vgdk of. Febtuary,
,tsm-siur the' ICiter-Taid 'the 13th cf March,
1811., sent by the Adjutant• General to Lord Edward
Somer.et. He apologised for reading the whole of
Lord Combermere's evidence, but it was of impor-
tance, as it steteil that befbre the arrival of Colonel
Quentin he had never seen a better corps of Officers,
and attributed the alteration which had afterwards
taken place, not to the fault of the Officers, but of
the Commander. He then went through a consi-
derable part of Lord E. Somerset's evidence, and that
of Colonel Gardner, who had also stated, th.►t he con-
sidered the discipline of the 10th Hussars exemplary
previous to Colonel Quentin's arrival, and had re-
marked a considerable difference consequently,—
Brigade-Major Jones, who had been attached to
the brigade both before and after Colonel Quentin
had joined, had given testimony to the same effect.
-On his trial, Colonel Quentin had not produced a
tittle of evidence to refute all this. He had here to
remark, that the Serjeant Major of the regiment and
also the Quarter Master, would have been some of
his principal witnesses, but when he saw them after
they had had an interview with Colonel Quentin, he
found that he could no longer depend on their evi-
dence. The only defence which the Colonel had
produced was a reference to various regimental Or-
ders, inserted in the Orderly Book of the Regiment.
One of these, dated August 13, 1814, related to 0 e
state of the arms. With respect to these, it :,rig: t
be conceived impossible that they should have been
issued without a cause. This, however, was ~.cc tact,
and he was sorry that he had not explained that at
the time on the trial, but Colonel Q ientin's defence
had been so ling, than it had not been in his power
to notice every point. These antis (carabines) had
long since been found useless. and on coming home,
had been rep rted at head-q'.l tilers as totally unser-
♦iceable. When the reg;men: had gone abroad, he
(Colonel Palmer) had applied to his Royal Highness
the Duke of York, and obtained new arms, and until
their arrival the former could be of no use. The or-
der was therefore ridiculous and unfounded, and is-
sued at a time when the men were allowed to appear
drunk even on parade, and could not be made to at.
tend to any thing. Another older directed the offi-
cers to visit the squadrons twice a-day, and examine
their arms, Sm. There was no foundation fur such
an order. It could not be executed, in the manner
In which the regiment was scattered when on service
abroad. It was not the same thing at home: all that
could be done would have been to tell the command-
ing officers to make the Captains responsible for their
troops, and the Subalterns for the privates, and to
report every offence. The same order also directed
that they should be visited whilst they mounted
guard; and all this at the very time when the want
of discipline in the regiment was so great, that the
men were in the habit of breaking into and robbing
houses, without being punished. Orders of this kind,
he repeated, were ridiculous. It was impossible to
go at ten o'clock at night to visit the men, and Cap.
tains ought to have been suffered to have acted in
their own way. He then quoted Caoain Lloyd's
evidence, by which it appeared that this officer had
not been supported by Colonel Quentin in several in-
stances in the punishment of offenders. These or.
tiers, pretended to have been issued for the welfare

,dr-a*
itoei_los the evidence,
ther cases of ott te were stated te haveinersinrered
to go on unpunished, even when mon made away
with their stockings and apparel: When they were
permitted to selr even necessaries, then every one
nuts! allow that all discipline was at an end. Ano-
ther order issued by Colonel Quentin directed the of-
ficers to see that the men's dinners were regular and
their persons clean. This was impossible in their
state of indiscipline, and the order perfecdy useless.
Colonel Quentin's defence attempted to prove nume-
rous instances of want rico-operation on the part of
the officera ; and in a particular case, that he (Colo-
nel Palmer) had suffered him to remain ignorant, of
a medical report which bad been transmitted to Lord
Edward Somerset. On the contrary, Colonel Quen-
tin was very glad to hush this Matter up. He ytld
the Captains, that Mr. Morrison, the surgeon, had
produced a report against them ; but he Found they
were right, and he was glad, he repeated, WI I(
up. But for S conversation which he , (Col Pal-
mer) hod had with a person in a certain, quarter,
whom it was not necessary to name, )* had not in-
cluded Colonel Quentin's contitict Mr.. Morrison
in the charges, otherwise he was 'convinced that he
must have been broken before anYtOurcaartial.—
As to any blame attaching to him 4CBlonel rainier)
in this business, the fact was, that in eonsequence, be
supposed, of the public drunkenness and want of dis-
cipline and health of the med, an order catne to Mr.
Morrison to report the medical state of the regiment.
Colonel Quentin was then absent, as it frequently
happened to him, for a day or two. Mr. Morrison
came to him (Colonel Palmer) to inquire what he
should do? He replied, that he could not take upon
himself to decide, but referred him to Lord Edward
Somerset. Beyond this he had nothing to do with
the subject. He regretted he should have been corn.
polled to trespass already so long on the time of the
House. He had called upon Colonel Quentin to
prove any want of attention and co-operation on his
part. Hi had done every thing in his power to sup-
port him on every occasion which the service re-
quire I, for he was too well acquainted with his duty
to his regiment ever to neglect it. On his part, Co-
lonel Quentin, though he knew better than to offer
him a personal insult, bad rendered his situation so
unpleasant in the reginient, that he had tried. to be
placed on the Staff, in order to get out of his way.
rhe Honourable Member then read another Regi-
itn Order, about the number of shirts (four)
%which the men were to have. This was as useless
aid unfounded as the rest; and he really believed
that whenever Colonel Quentin received a reprimand
himself, he issued such documents, and inserted them
in the orderly book, 'merely to blind and deceive
his Colonel, is which, be feared, he hadenceeoled.—
The Honourable 'Colonel damned the Oink Bernet to
refer to the different seginontaltirders rebid**, the
10th Hussars, while the regiment was on the Fiona
frontier ; and the general inferences he- dresv f •
the conduct of Colonel Quentin towards the
were, that he abstained from severity where it had
been merited, and only held out threat's:Math as that
of sending them to bivouac, on the eget** of the
order of the 26th of February. By such moans
sought for popularity front the men at the expense- ;
of the officers, and nothing was more likely to obtain
it than censuring punishment, and on some occasions
even preventing the indiction of what had been de-
creed. The man whom be ordered to be taken down
when he had received only half his number of lashes
said, " Think you, Colonel ; you are a gentleman.
The regiment is a good regiment, but I am in a bad
troop.' He wished not to lay any particular stress
upon this observation ; the man might have been
drunk, or a fool ; or, at any rate, his escape from
punishment was alone suffieient to make him thank-
ful. But the circuintance went to thew the Means
the Colcmel took to acquire popularity. •Ar to his re-
mission of the punithnsents of the menl it was indeed
his invariable practice. This he cc d,was of itself
sufficient to operate against the maintenance of-good
order and discipline. If the IWO were convicted of
Misconduct, And sentenced to punishment, they ought
to receive it, and it wad tie duty of the oft ersto see
it inflicted. The misfortune of such conduct was,
that instead of beeping up the discipline of the regi-
ment, it only tended to increase the irregularities, so
that when the regiment wits =imbed up the country,
the punishments, of necessity, became more general.
The Han. Colonel mentioned another instance in
point, which was the case of Abbott, who, when
conyietidand brought before the Commander for pu-
nishment, was pardoned 6y Thltn, 'ettteurrit-
been proved, that this man behaved in such an out-
rageous and disgraceful manner, that, it was abso-
lutely necessary to bring him to a Court-Martial.—
Alluding to the letter of' the Prince Regent, he no-
ticed the remark, that certain officers bad affixed
their names to the letter that had led to the Court-
-portial,who bad not been with the regimentat the time
the 13amplaints arose, and adding; that it appeared
the officees had all co-operated in a compact against
their typerior officer. On this topic the Honourable
Colonel sald, duit he only Wished to a*, if the pri-
vates of a regimenthave any just complaints to nudge
-against their officers, they are allowed to probe sheik
ishy should not the officers have the same to
brill; complaints against their Commander linitey
were, however, accused of cooing forward in a, body.
else were they to tome forward ? or What mu.
-nee. aim ham beep mom paper than that which
they adopted f With respect to himself, honoured
ths.friotpo• dint oP(4l6,lPthe world should have in.l
docod him to minseforyerfil against Colonel Quentin,
but $ do" mpg foi 40 Xpaour and character ofl
dicing sptak of the conduct of
• .• y 3 any in the country, except,
As • yil6frsits.* regiment :. bpt be
found , •ge4l, Ats- Lord ComborMpivearit
and oat% his teneen‘ iMmitenwhat has hap
whatlyediat st muted. to -ensue ? If the ell!it,
U
issroit. are tei O. right-about
irsy, what will tht tkiilffieslave who

-', • sad I
' 0 theltlonel"-Qtluentin".. Ts-3-talio—ci. ---
-..-
iwaosafeirtionsly'i
F ' snot only ishrotul. bet at home, and whs 1
pfilhttdrked of wherever .he had been with ;lie
11904
entioreen at Ipswich; MR 40014 line' $ 44
elif-dawo with it feeliege at the meat,-
*and hear such aims and charges thrown,
.
e
against the,C se, without 'titbit% to hews,
the complaints enquired Onto ? There wee no alter
decree after.uthat had Isappenel.tchand bit:37o7e:
ted.,„444,044h.:e05t01Y4 oalyne wall few words more on
a POint.thielt could not be passed over. He alluded
to.the letter:. Which the officers had signed, and ad-
dreseed.ao. the Prince Regent, in vindication of their
iendots, which letter, he asserted, had been obtained
front them by Colonel Quentin, under false pretences
rTa4letet he would beg leave to read. He next
acpairtof the command of the Prince Regent,
which Matte to the dismissal and distribution et the
cifiette ? 4114 on this subject he begged leave CO say,
that. on hit own accopnt be had no complaint to
make ; he had .stated his opinion, and been obliged
to 'state it. He bed pot in any way, so committed
himself as to be obliged, to brieg- forward these
charges; he even regretted-thn part which be found,
it necessary to take, which he 4;441494: rt 9 wholly
end solely out of regard and respeotiforbil.kother-
' officers. He felt the necessity of amb& .the sub-
ject before the House, and baVAT.P)4OO4O44- "ad
leave it to the energise of their discretbin. 11141-600%
Lnourable Gentlenian Oen 440.iqd, 0 OS WI
'Address be preseeted to the _Priareie.iluitent• PriOng.
that he would be graciously 'pleased to direct that's.
copy of the proceedings of the General Court-Mar-
thil on Colonel Qualm, of the 10th Hussars, be laid
before that House."
The motion having been read from the Chair,
Mr. MANNERS SUTTON§ after Stins a
verbal alteration in the motion, ..,, A, 'the ge-
neral question. He thought that the :;gibed emu-.
cited at least an unusual degree of-Ainel fince- tawards
the Hon. Gentleman. During his, Initintes.lie had
entirely misconceived the official duties. of a Judge.,
Advocate, when he had asserted tinjitbie had recoma,
mended the. dismissal of the prosecuting officers.—
With that determination he had no camera. T.l),
course pursued by the Hon. Gentlemen had
.beeo4
most extraordinary. (Ilear,hear.), The motion hail
been postponed that reasons for it might beproducei4,
and now what were those reasons ? -, (Ilaar, hear.)—
It seemed as if the mover had considered it as a mat-,
ter of course that the House should interpose—that,
the papers should be laid upon the table—and after:-
wards that he should submit some motion upon it.-.-m
He had a little mistaken the mode of proceeding...l
The first question was, whether the House had en]
right to exercise a judgment, and not whether it apt
proved or disapproved of the sentence* of the
Court Martial ? (Hear.) The speech had not been
less extraordinary than the pectatien, Whether the
honesty or the intelligence' of the Members of the
Court Martial was to be attacked, or whether it was
a joint assault on both, it was difficult. to escertaia,
Ibis it was quite clear that the House could not yen:
'gyre to decide, because they had heard only cattail
Of the case. (Thar, Flee.) If the question were
again to betrixds it would be fit that he (Mr. M.
Sutton) should read the,other hairof the procseclingt
The publication of the trial, which most periont had
read, relieved him from followinic the Hon. 14entle-
MOO through the greater part of ins address, bin nn,, '
lees it was meant to iiepeach the integrity of the
Judges appointed, by giving full credit to the cx park
statement just heard,. no grtiund had been laiff.fbr
acceding to the motion. The true point at issue.
' which well deserved to be weighed, was whether the.
House had any authority to offer an opinion, or to
give ,dicisioo ? Justiee to the individual might re-
quite that the whole casc.9f ;he defendant should be
detailed—ihat both sideosight be heard ;--but the
House would not, upon a speech like that just deli-
vered, consisting principally of the reply of Colonel
Palmer, think fit to call in question the deliberate nu-
fence of a Court, which had formed Its judgment,
after haying all the. benefit of hearing that reply-,1
with the additional advantage of attending to the evi-
dence adduced in contradiction. As all persons
coiddnow,satisfy themselves by means of the printed
ismaiess Mr. M. Sutton would not enter into the ques.
!mss further .than was, necessary, not to justify, be-
owe a justification was not required—not to defend,
fur no defense could be wanted—but to explain.
the grounds en which the Court Martial had fount
dad its decision. Of the First Charge, which com-
prised three poietsr the Court had declared that two
pOintswese not proved, and that one only, which re
gaited negligence in giving ordtrs to the men, was
established—Was it not enough so satisfy the House
to tell them, that such was the solemn decision of
the Court ? or if any further confirmation were neces-
sary, end the integrity or talents of the Members of
the Court were doubted, he begged to refer the Ho.
nourabie Gentleman to the names of the Members
---.9d entirely of General Officers, to many.:o
.

----7
—tr,---.-aii-r74-4-1. the 17fousi
expressang e grata for en,
services. Nothing was more natural than that the
prosecutor should be dissatisfied with the sentence, and
the Honolirable Gentleman did not form an ex
tion to the.general rule, that the prosecutor was rcpt
an impartial judge in his ern case. (fink, hear.
.. •
It was not singular that tin opinions of the pressen-
tor and of the Court should be discordant. The 2d
Charge, if not direct, contained strosigimplied actu-
saiions of a want of personal courage ; and it had
been endeavoured to be established in evidence, that
.
!hen the resirnent was tired upon, Colonel Quentin
mined. in his horse, and opened the ranks that be
'might get into the rear for safety. ,The Court put a
negative upon this accusation, and he (*, 14.39 t.
Loa) baring advised the Prince Regent,to konlitlix
the sentence, was so far responsible, 404 was reads
to submit to the consequences. The 3d Charger was
an unelligoised assertion, of the cowardice of Colonel
Quentin—that immediately the firing began hodis.
amen* irons the head of , his troops, in short,that
Ise resimini. The evidence for the defendant proved
that 10 not left his troops until they were covered
k' thi', ' tof . the Duke of Brunswick bell' end
until . keen dippaphed elsewhere by order. of
tetrostrst4.
~..‘•
,Fourth charge um!
'• • • •, 4* effese pas a. 'Want or ilksci iin
1
:. ~-. 1.•.!, .i. ..„. 41P?... I.c , ...al:, 1
1• ' ; ' Nailf/43% . . s • • 1

IsomWellington sentsaymen-itabioileclemies i**.
character ,Of the relciintiltelatit to 4 -peovided a re,
reedy which restated it io im rfarnigr IWO of excel-
lences and bad expressed bib ditappeabation of the ne-
eigente of •Colopel.Quensin. lyord ,Combetmere had
Load that had not peace satrivedhe should, however,
,hive deemed it fit to take senior' notice of the con.
,thated inattentions of Colonel Quentin, and it was
*jugular that the very cause that had induced
Cotabermere to forego his charges had in-
duced .the prosecutors to commence their proceed-
big:: (Hear, hear, hear.) The Court Martial was
of opinion thaesufficient punishment had been inflict-
ed by Lord Wellington, but they could not find the
fact otherwise, and they were consequently obliged
in declare him guilty of negligence in keeping up the
discipline of the regiment. For this the Prince Re-
gent bad confirmed the sentence of a reprimand.—
The Honourable Colonel had complained of that
pan of the sentence that accused his brother Officers
of not co-operating with their Colonel. It would not
be fit that he (Mr. M. Sutton) should state the
grounds which had led the Court to make that decla-
ration, but the Hon. Member ought to be the last to
object to it, since it was evident from the case of Mr.
Morrison, to explain which he had laboured in vain,
proved' that be did not co-operate by giving his an.
parr officer die information that Lord Edward So.
merset had declared it was his duty to commu-
nicate. The reason he assigned for not doing so
*sae terms upon Ithiebbe and Colonel Quentin
welse.-41fmr, hear.) Another case was quite as con-
, elusive. The junior Officers complained that they had ,
not due support from their Colonel...one Captain was
lasked,whether in his troop there was not great irregu-
laity tHe answered, Yes. The next question was,
whether he had made representations to Colonel
Quentin %mon the subject as often as he would have
ofone to any other Officer ? The reply was, No, be.
; cause i did not expect they would be taken any notice
,of.—.(Hear.) Did not this prove beyond question,
!that there was not that cooperation which was abso-
lutely necessary for the due organisation of . the regi-
ment ?--(Hear.), The Prince Regent is advised. to
;approve and confirm the sentence, which is complied
I With, but could the matter end there ? Could Colonel
Quentin. after what had passed, expect more co-ope-
Otionfrom the Officers than before ? Was it possible
;that they should remain in the same regiment ? Then
;the question, which was to leave the regiment ?—the
[ partly unjustly accused of absolute cowardice, or the
party who had unjustly accused him ?—(liear, hear ,f)
Did common justice require the removal of the pro.
motors or of Colonel Quentin ? He had no hesitation
in saying that there was not an instance in the his.
tory of martial law, where officers falsely exhibiting
charges of cowardice against their superior, had not
been dismissed the service—here they were only re.
movid into Other regiments. It had been doubted by
sops persons, whether, since the charges had been
'ally proved, the Subsequent censure on the pro-
so,
rs were proper; but since the granting of Court
Vs was theprerogative of the Crown, and since
by weighty charges, which were unfounded, being
pgeferrect, his Majesty might be induced to grant a
Court Martial, which on charges of inferior conse-
qoeucehe might be advisetto refuse. There was a
case,a/hich he should qtuote,d which was directly
'inipant, and it would not be 4 soling himself, since it
CladOecurred loud before Ita was appointed to the
office. The case was contained in a letter from Sir
C. Morgan ;o the Duke, of York, containing the plea-
sure of his Majesty on the. sentence of a Court Mar-
tial, held at Newport, in the Isle of Wight, on Lieu-
fl• eet-Colonel Morgan. The letter stated, that it was
to pleasure of his Majesty to confirm the sentence of
the Court by which Colonel Ross was foiled guile),
on the first charge, and ordered to be reprimanded,
by the promulgation of the reprimand in a public
Order, for having employed two persons as his ser-
vants who were rated and paid as corporals : his Ma-
' jesty also agreed with the opinion of the Court in its
strictures on the conduct of the prosecutors —(Hear,
hear,)—and on this occasion his Majesty recollected
with displeasure the conduct of Colonel Ross himself,
On a former occasion, in preferring unfounded
charges against Major Ottley ; and took occasion
to observe, that the preferring accusations which
roc uld not be maintained, was not only inconvenient
and injurious to the service, but disgraceful to the Of.
Beers who brought them forward. The Commander
In Chief was directed to inform the Officers engaged
bi the prosecution, that his Majesty had no further
Occasion for their services
_; and since it was expedient
for the purpose of preserving harmony in the 85th re-
giment, that Colonel Ross 12 cited not continue to serve
'awe' the Commander-iii,.-Chief was directed to in.
formhim, that it was his Majestirs pleaspre that he
shotild retire, from that regins_enti
.hut that he should
be at liberty to sell his commission, he having pur-
chased the same. The reason why Colonel Ross was
dismissed was obvious, from the mention which was
made in the early part of the letter of 'the charges
formerly pieferredagainsi Major ttttley. The Right
Honourable Gentleman then proceeded to observe,
•at eh . • stated the reasons why the Officers could,
not remain iiiiiifie Wring Corciner le, the same regt-4
went, and he had produced acaseinwjtich officers,who,
had partially proved the charges they had preferred,
had.been dismissed from the service. That the care,
therefore, was not severe on the Officers of the 10th
waif; evident, however honourable their feelings: might
have been, and though they were, no doubt, sincere
in iheir'expression of their feelings on the occasion,
however wrong they were in the mode they' had taken
of manifesting them. Those who were not connectce,
with the case would not think that the officers had
been injused, but rather relieved from an unplesand
situation. It had been said by the Honourable Geutle.t
man (Colonel Palmer), ahy were all the Officeri,io
suffer since all were obliged to sign the letter, because,
if one or two only had- come forward they woul
have been dismissed the service ? He begged tha
the Honourable Gentleman would not cast any su
imputation, without proof, on the military adviser
of the Pripce Regent; for he Could assure the Ho 4
nourable Gentleman, that whether the Officers ha 4
been one or thirty, the case would have been precisely
the same. It had been also said—..why dismiss the of.
ficen from the regiment merely for writing. a letter ?
that. they bad not wished for a Court Martial. The
, case was, as the officers had truly stated in their let-
'ter, that they would not take on themselves to judge
what course was prow ui be Pursued. For what
could the officers have wished but for a Court Mar.
ilia? Wiley were net the iovilentary accusers of Co.

Qiimio, and would• tworally be apag4
se tosthue that they bad oat forth la the •Jaami
charges contained in the letter is qsestios. #i 11,4
been asked if the officers were not to complain is this
way ? Were there no complaints at all to be nude
against a Commanding Officer But if the Honour-
able Gentleman (Colonel Palmer) had asked his opi.
nion, though certainly he wasnot so COUVOICUIt wish
matters of military discipline as the Honourable Gcn-
tleakao, he should have thought the proper course to
have pursued would have been to have retureed the
letter to the officers. and desired them to reduce it to
specific charges, which he should have forwarded,
and not carried himself to the Commander in Chief.
It bad been said, th It the letter in question was not
ultimately intended to have been brought forward,
but that Colonel Quentin got possession of it by im-
properly making use of the name of the Prince Re.
gent. Whether or not OAS were the case, there could
be no doubt that it was perfectly superflocus in Col.

Quentin to make use of the name. of his Royal
nets, because he was justified in calling for that ler-
ter, or of making it matter of charge against the og..
ficers, that they had signed it. Was it to be home •
that one Lieutenant-Colonel was tostell the other thit
he had a letter in his pocket, signed by the officers oi
the regiment, containing charges against his characii
ter and honour, and that yet he was not entitled to
require that it should be produced ? Thus, whether •
he had done right in form, in substance be had not
done wrong. —The. Honourable geatlesnian, in talk-
ins of the 4th charge, had brought a variety of ac.
cusetions against Colonel Quentin, and he was sues
prised to hear that the instances in which Cohn*
Quentin had :hewn his -lenity by remitting therseree
truces of men who had been brought to the halbert,
were hailed by Gentlemen oa the other side of the
House as facts to his prejudice—(Hear, hear.) k
seemed that he (Mr. M. Sutton) had changed sides,
with those Hooourable Gentlemen—(Hear, hear.)—.
When the Honourable Gentleman (Colonel Palmer)
had commented with so much acrimony on Colonel
Quentin for his conduct as an officer, was he await
that his own course was contrary to the regulations
of the army ? [Mr. M. Sutton here read an order of
Sir J. Craig, issued at Quebec, and which had beta
adopted into the General Orders issued from the
Horse Guards, condemning in strong terms a meet;
ling of the gerjeants of a regiment ot fusileers in Ca.
nada, who had passed a vote of thanks and appro.
bation to the Adjutant who had been removed into
another regiment. The order stated, that though Sr
J. Craig did justice to the iFood intention of the set-
leant!, he could not but disapprove their presumiig
to meet to deliberate on the conduct of a superior of.
fitter. He also condemned the conduct of the Come
mending Officer who had approved the meeting.—
The General Order, in adopting the sentiments of
this distinguished fficer, remarked, that " the cir-
cumstance of any class of military persons assembling
to deliberate onthe conduct of their superior otficer,was
an assumption of that authority which belonged to the
King alone, or to the persons entrusted by them with
the command ; such conduct was equally cull able
in all ranks."] He should- not have. Warned the
transmission ot the letter, but the manner in which it
had been transmitted. The feeling among the officers
seemed to. have been a with that an investigation
phould pike place; but by signing the letter they be.
dame accusers. Some of those who signed that lei
ter must have been misled, *since there were some of
the officers who signed had not been in the Pen'n.
gala, Stated in the charges, or at all. These office s
na doubt, only meant that there were some charges,
iihiCh they wished should be cleared up, and 11:
would not bindahem dowts to the technical rule, that
dopy meant to say that they could maintain charges
against Colonel Quentin, without knowing any thing
about the matter • but the conduct of the Horse
Guards, if notice had not been taken of such a pro-
ceeding, would not have been defensible He shoul .1
state shortly the grounds on which he rested his op-
position to the production of the proceedings. He did
not refuse hit concurrence on account of auy appre-
hension of future discussions. He was prepared to
justify every part of those proceeding:, both pi e-
vioaEly and subsequently to the sentence—but the
question of the propriety of calling for the sentence
of Court Martials was one of great importance. That
it was within the power of the House to take notice
of any illegal sentence, he world not deny, but to
cell for the proceedings on any Court Martial, with-
out the most pressing necessity, would be most in-
convettient to the public service. In the case whe e
a Court Menial had voted thanks, as in the case of
Lord Gambier, or taken other steps pot suppos d
to be within their province, the preiceedings
with propriety be called for ; but if in the cue belbre
the House the pi oceedings were granted, they could
never be refused—( Hear, hear,) and the House would
be converted into a Court of Appeal—(llcer, tesr.)
Whatever the deesion of the House was, he should
bow to it, but he would confidently say, that if 44.
arition was carried the Ilouse would have done more
by that one step to undermine and destroy the best
interest of the military service, thin they had done he
40-the Measures which they had, been :Akio; 3
After year to pramote -them— ( Hear, )seer.) jrc .0?*
.I*asOrts lot had sta:ed he should oppose the prothlczica
„of the papers called for.--s(Lced cheers.)
Mr. TIER NEI' said, the Hou;e would not b:suo
prised that he should take the first opportunity to
state his sentiments on the motion. He was gait"
awate of the delicacy which should he observe.: id
interfering with the decision of any Court, whether
.military or civil, and he should never support a luotint
for the production of the proceedings, but on seal=
good parliamentary reason. But there was no case i 3
which the proceedings were more urgently called flf
then on the present occasion:. for if the present oci-
tion were not agreed to, it would be attleast neces:.l!
when the next Mutiny Bill was introduced to itioo
some clause to prevent officers, who preferred charg
when theyfailed in substantiatingthensto their full Le
tent, from being indiscriminately censured and w"
verely punished, without an opportunity of bei*
heard in their defence (hear, hear !) It could not be
'denied but that by the law as at present adminiaereis
if any officers attacked another who was a fereent:
(hear, hear 1) they. should, without. an opportenity of
defence, or of spewing who were more guilty or less
guilty, be subjeeted to severe punishment. Tben_i it
was chat six and twenty gentlemen of the cgs ug.
ratter in the country were punished. The severe lie'
nishment inflicted on these officer not only applied
the Captains or subalterns, but tos the "allot Culosel

a4,l' discipline of t,l),elite% aiiiicacuitAeit fro4l}:ip!,
BO of them were 'in the hospital at. a tinsc- VipP , r
c
the regiment had landed at Lisbon, And their artiii,l,
in a place whcri they might procure wiap E ,
was certainly a period an which they were opatl A,
to 5211!9!.! excesses i" drinking'l‘l*%,r 'llfigibit ri,
did not average more than es-or seven sick.
C*Pel Queutme OrtYa fiftYr all, eighty,, iTet4 .. 1
the hospital, and that chieff_Ethitiaah diseasea.:..:::. ..!..,
inflif ontriiiciiiia -TheHriiiourAhle gaols" :I pia,
read some other tarts of 4e eridenee iti qhfcli furl,
...