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

leunistridedtippird*lits4!th.._ mi* dittlitlett!"
altherdld not iitoSiuniettlft. lice' by the Mutt
tlett•-of their papers O&M have tiny military ritdriali I
hieelsjeat M selling for them was to lay thetodn:i
dal -fee an alteration in the Mutiny Act and 'MEI
1114
' whole military system. 'Whereas a Court Mattink-
Fetid t'! 'ti has acted ecuttaty to oar opinion, and, taw
HottiGuardshavecondOchtd themselves in a theetiet'
whidr:ire thitketroagr therefore the whole militate/
system, which of late years-had been brought to the
high** perfection, mat be aisered,that nothing May
be done at any future period, contrary se ottr opinion.
—He lamented that this matter SIMI& have been
brought at all into discussion in thattfielet for the
case ought to be grew* and seeimett, 4ndeettr• Which
could justify an appeal to dsiitilause from the judg- '
ment of any Court of Justice whatever. He had ex-
pected that the Honourable Officer, instead of read.
ing his own speeches, would have brought forward'
some serious charge against' the Cowl Martial. This,'
however, he had disclaimed, sled only stated that his
impression was contrary to the-canchistee drawn by
the Court Martial from the evidence. This was
surely nolufficientogronnd for the production of the
proceedings. Theidlnteei of Courts Martial were 'I
never brought beflitiPthat'House, e*cept where one
of their aern.Meatheetreatinvolved, or where some
Hitteel eaniatitiatidit tats •supposed to have go-
verned .the ' up, it being doubtful whether
IhisAtter oat the guilt person, and not
rile ..r litidlifil'
Ttici
-drscipline
' could hot be. itehtilteritends than those of the Crown ;
and he.saw no reason -why the present case should be
take' out of the ordinary channel, It had been stated
in the 'general order, that Colonel Quentin had not
that co-operating on the part of the other officers of
the regintent to which he was entitled ; and this
clearly-appeared to be the case, even from what hid
been said brthe Honourable Officer himself. It had
been argued, that- the precedent produced by his
Right Hon. Friend-near hint did not apply. It did
not esnetly apply, because there the officers were dis-
missed,- and here they were-only removed into other
regiments. The Com t had not censured the motives
of the- offiters.‘ -They were fair and honourable,
though mistaken ; and, therefore, the officers were
only removed : whereas in the instance of the 85th
regiment they were dismissed. The precedent was
not exactly in point, but the analogy was complete.
It mattered not is what manner the proceedings ore.
gitsated ; but in .point. of fact. the first use made by
Clime! Palmer of the letter was to tell Col. Quentin
that h: had it, and to offer to skew it him. Colonel
Quentin said,. a I will have nothing to do with k—
'take it to-the 'Prince—bring forward your charges."
He would ask, %whether at was possible for Cannel
Queatin AEI this to-avoid calling [or a Court-Mar.
tial-i 'These 28 men of rank, fashion, figure, sliitinc.
item,' and Golikemvs what all, had come for war,'
:with this' statement atainst him, and he was undta-
the necessity of callin for a Court-Martial, or sub-
mitting to Ile disgraced for ever. He might have sad
t" I shall atm an end tolltis at once, and retire ;" but
he would have been disgraced if he had done so. He
'had no 'choice, but either to call fora Court-martial,
or to go out in disgrace. Nothing could justify such
,tntigoli unless the whole could be substantiated.—

lip
, . to; conto a meet e urge of
cowardice. That, then, was -the meaning of the
first letter, and Colonel Quentin would have been
,unfit -to associeate with officers and gentlemen if
he had not demanded a Court Martial. The Right
',Hon. Gentleman had said that these officers had not
been punished for charges which had been preferred
by the Duke of Wellington and Lord Combermere—
but they were not punished for these charges, but for
having preferred other charges whiCh they could not
prove. The Matters charged by the Duke of Wel-
lington and Lord Combermere had been before de-
.cided upon—and the officers composing the Court
Martial, with that knowledge and experience which
beleoged to deem, bad said that they had nothing to
do "nth them charges. The other charges had not been
proved; and it was on that ground that the officers
had been removed. Then the Right Hon. Gentle-
man talked Of fivourit:sm, and the danger of prefer-
-fiat charges against a favourite, and so forth—but
whet was the foundation of this accusation of
itYot3 have dismissed these' hen of rank, And
fashion, and figure, and ioforth—(aierie), and you
here-maimed only a parcel of mutinous raskals,
and this inefficient officer." But he said dratliere
wage- conspiraelagainst this old officer-o(lfeer) ;-,he
did not mean to use the word in any invideous stew.
Helsad stouts reasons to speak faveurablehf these
officers, as well as the Right Hon. GentleMitritlentie
of then were connections of his, and he lode very
greet mad for them; but he Must do his public
duty notwithstanding, aid he mast repeat, that this
old and deseritng officer was brought to trial by a
conspiracy among the other officers—but be was ac-
quitted of thi mum charges. Mick+ three eireum- ,
static% it must be admitted sin all-kinds that the
paitis could nut *undone together. Colonel Qnen-,
Oa, by a conspiracy among the officers of his mei-
Meet, had been brought to trial, and acquitted of the
Main charges; and the Crown had only to decide
',blether the officers or he ought to be removed t and
it hid been determined to remove the officers. Then
*is sheered that neither rank, distinction, character,
nee emdit, were admitted to weigh in the scale against
substantial justice. -These men of rank and fashion
had not bees turned adrift, but removed ; anti this
old meritorious officer, without connections 'in this'
country, had been retained. If the object had been
to sorry favour with the great, a very different mode
of proceeding would have been adopted, and as m
Englishman, he was glad that such a proof of Wed
bona and impartiality had been green, •Andlthat
ends young gentlemen had been taught, that, inexpe.
limed as they must be, they ought not to pronounce
feebly an the conduct of their Commanding Officer.
He raoliretad that a relation of his, speaking of
Ames sent out soon after the
sitestafilishme of
siss • 'College. once 'observed of them, p
cannot mow guard, and yet would neeneinvro
Dart sash.* This arcpsoins proved. dial*
farms was to to the highest any me,. Heel
to the lowest, but that alt were to be treafed. acted:
Ulm sum roles of Military dileffolift Obit it
whether the pelity.Wwt
Igaills4 Mat hit nothisig, *bit all wan aiLimlitthmknillak
that sus iponest Amur was wb man of
MON *Melt Ilfalt t• .61W tiotqlht,

L ta bw tettei at. &Vett Sift
firlhearitaiifflit as to fivotiiitfrali If an
114-dapeadolupcai that, it ought to be recollectd.
the-.ltight Hon. Dendenlan bad these 28 men of
ati add &edam, while he had only one old but med.
*inn* tidier, Who was indeed a favourite, (bear) I
glutarisy vial Istrif favouritel Por bts merit and ser-
yaks:lad for *rhos brought this very regiment '
hlO state of discipline (hear, hear) ; —he might
biinistahn, but so he bad heard; and if it was so,
he deserved to be a faiourite. Oa all these grounds,
.he mast oppose the motion, conceiving it to be most in-
jurious to the discipline of the army.
bfr,,VYSE spoke shortly in defence of the decision
of the Court Martial, of which his lionottrahle rela-
tive had been President, and who, in the aoxiotas
duty which he had to perform, had been guided by
no private or partial motives.
Mr. BRAND adverted to a precedent of the House
of Commons interfering with the sentence of a Court
Mirtial. It took place in the year 1745, under the
adminharation of Mi. Pelham, when the House de-
clared the sentence of a Court Martial, partial, illegal,
and unjust. He thought the appeal Made by the
Judge. Advocate to the. general order of Sir James •
Craig, fair enough ; but at did not apply to the case of
Colonel Palmer, who bad only obeyed the orders of
the Prince Regent as Colonel of the regiment, in
bringidg forward those charge:which the °titer Officers
had aigned,ancl who would not sacrifice those who had
fought aid bled by hits sitie. That honourable Officer,
in performiurthis dotTi was-sea liablieo ant at.tw.o--.
servaticms that had bfen made on the other Officers,
and yet he had been nicluded in the same censure.—
He (Mr. Brand) ahotild abstain from.giving any opi.
nion of the sentence uf. the Court Menial ; but the ;
conclusiuo, or rather the sentence of the Horse-guardo.l
was quite another matter, and appeared to him arbi!
trary and unfounded. He, therefore, wanted to see
the minutes of the Court artial before the House,
in order to determine from 'what the H.ftse-gu'ards
had drawn a conclusion so materially affecting a num-
ber of most gallarit.oßcOrs.i. He reprobated the term .
conspiracy, which 4 Rishl Han. Gentleman had_
thought proper to apply to their conduct. It could '
not have proceeded from malignity, but from -a sense
of what they owed to the character of their ragiment
for they must have been aware that the suspension of
the Act of Settlement expired in June next, when
Colonel Quentin, as being a foreigner,could no longer
remain at their head. Act was framed by our
ancestors in the time of William 111. to prevent an
inundation of Dutch officers, and he trusted it would .
be still maintained in force.

Mr. Serjeant BEST contended, th ►t the list of
officers discharged sufficiently rebutted the charge of
tavou►itism. Tho Prince Regent, when he issued the
order in question, must have felt that he sacrificed
much of private feeling in the discharge of his duty.
The learned Serjeant conceiv:d it a clear principle of
military law, th►t, when an officer broaglit a charge
affecting the life and honour of 11;s superior, and failed
in the proof, lie should be discharged the set vice, or
transferred to another regiment. It was quite manifest
that the officers of the 10th. having written the letter
which they did, became in fact the accusers of Colo.
net Quentin, and weredetermined, either directly or

their ;Wet oflisgracinghim, _
Jetted torhe mildest sentence which could he Inflict-
ed under all the circumstances. How could the dis-
cipline of the army go on, if this sp: c:es of combina-
tion or conspiracy went with impunity The interfe- •
rence of the House it; 1745, aliuJed to by an Hon.
Member, when the Cotntnons pronounced a military
sentessce, partial, unjust, and illegal, bore no analogy
to the pretest case, for no one had attempted to blame
the court-martial on Colonel Quentin. He denied
that this Howe was any court of appeal from the de-
cisions of either civil or military courts. It would de-
stroy the discipline of the army, if persons dissatisfied
with sentences had the mean; of obtaining their re.
visal in that House, which could only interfere where
there was evidence of corruption in the conduce of
the Court-martial.
Mr. BENSON paid a warm compliment to the
gallantry of the officers of the 10th. He thought,
however, they had been properly reminded that cou.
rage did not form the only requisite of a soldier, but
that subordinatieshwas equally necessary. 'fru very
consideration of tlats,pristate tamenttence of these of.
&cell would afford 9ae of the most striking lessons to'
the army.
Sir C. Bt,TRULL eontended on thecmtrary, that
the sentence oa these -offseere-was one of the harshest
measure% ever wits esetl_ .egalust men who had so
highly diatinguisbetl.themselves by their gallantry in
the field. There was no proOf that they had net most
zealously cooperated for the beoefit of the service.
- Mr. P. MOORE supported the motion, and con.
tended that that House was a Court of Appeal
(Lad trio of grortim.) He would still assert, in Op-
position to what had fallen from the Learned Serjeant,
that there was no other Court of Appeal but that
House, . from the decisions of Civil or Military
Courts.
, Colonel PALMER shortly replied. The officert,
he said, had only done their duty; and the que.tion
before the House was one of the highest importance,
not only to the essential interests of the army, but
to those of the country at large. The statement of
the Right Honourable Gentleman (Mr. Tierney)
with respect to the letter, was perfectly correct.—
He (Colonel Palmer) certainly did lay that letter be.
fore his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, but with-
out the slightest idea of i-s being made use of to the
injury of the Officers. He did not, indeed, imaqiue
it grovid be used at all. He still retained his opinion
that the sentence of the Court-Martial was not justi.
fled by the evidence adduced, as, in point of fact, it
acquitted Col. Quentin, and criminated the Officers.
Sir C. ,BURRELL explained.
The House then divided—For the Motion 37-e.
Against it 144—Majority
The following Gentlemen voted in iM Minority, as
din Motion of Colonel gewma s. • •
cs4:Matbsid. b. ; •
s. PalisstssAki.
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