Star.
London, England, 1813-07-08 00:00:00

. .
Court, however, weessmiendild him to and he
received 800 lasheS, 16. Smith also stated severs!
instances of tyrannical conduct. the part of Colonel
Orde pwarlis his officers', ire did
,not wish to la)
More upon Colonel Orde than what he deserved ; but
it did appear by the Orderly Book, that in the space
of only three years and a half there were inflicted on
400 men upwards of 130,000 lashes:a-a greater num.
ber than in all the other regiments put together. He,
did not wish to suppress any facts which might ope-
rate to the advantage of Colonel Orde, thd he must
acknowledge that the regimental orders did great
credit to him, whilst they reflected disrrate on the
regiment. It also appeared, that Colonel Orde called
two Lieutenants, fifteen serjeants, and nine or ten pri-
vates, to prove what his conduct was towards the ;
officers and men, all of whom stated, that though he
was a terror to evil-doers, yet those who did well had
nothing to fear from him. The Hon. Gentleman
said, he should conclude by moving, that the mi-
nutes of the Court-martial should be laid before the
House; and on this being done he thought he could
do injury to no one, since the trial, which had been
held in an open Court, had been published.
The question having been put,
Mr. M. SUTTON said, if in deciding on the Vote
be should now give, he had only to consider wharf
would be most satisfactory to Col. Orde, he should not
hesitate to give that Vote in support of the motion;
and, if he could feel that the Hon. Gentleman had
made out a case to the extent he had stated, the mo-
tion, in his opinion, would be irresistible. With re
spect to the prosecution of Colonel Orde, on reading
over the proceedings, which he had done with the
greatest care, he was prepared to say, that he had
never met with one in which so much acrimony, so
much unrelenting persecution, on the part of the pro-
ieentor, and so 'many obstacles thrown in the *ay of
the defendant, was apparent, as in the present case.
It was not, however, upon these grounds that his
Majesty's advisers had recommended that mercy
should be extended to Col. Orde. That recommend-
ation had been made on the merits of the case. In-
deed it was imperative on the Crown to do so, as
puny irregularities had existed in the prosecution,
which rendered it necessary. The Hon. Member
then entered into a 'review of the several charges, and
into a recapitulation of the progress_ of the prosecu.
Zion. The offences, he said, were committed in Ha-
Pfax—why, then, not try Colonel Orde in Halifax?
by let it lie over for a considerable length of time,
and then, on the arrival of Colonel Orde in England,
revive it; and commence a proiecution, alter a term
of more than three years had elapsed ; a delay which,
by the Articles of War, proved fatal to the proceed-
ings, since it was there provided, that no trial should
be had for any offence of longer standing than three
years, unless an unavoidable obstacle had existed to
bringing it forward before. In the present case there
was no such necessity for delay, and that circum-
stance was sufficient of itself to prove fatal to the
prosecution. The Honourable Member then pro-
ceeded to justify the conduct of Colonel Orde, by
urging the plea of the necessity of severity of punish-
ment from the insubordination which prevailed in Co-
lonel Orde's regiment. Me particularly adverted to the
charge of tyranny and oppression, which was said to
have taken place in 1807, and let lay by till 1812,1
five years after; this delay was such as to render it
impassible that the charge should be entertained on
any principle of law, common justice, or common
sense. This tyranny was said chiefly to consist in
confining the men to their barracks for four year: ;
but it Was not Colonel Orde who confined them all
this time, the Officer who preceded him, and two
who succeeded him, had adopted the same system,
and for this reason, that whenever the men went out, •
they invariably returned drunk ; if, therefore, Colo-
nel Orde was guilty of tyranny, so were all those
Officers. Under all the circumstances of this case,
be was persuaded the House would be of opinion that
cashiering would have been too severe a punishment
fol. MI Officer standing high in his Majesty's service,i
and whose conduct for seven years previous had not
only been unreproaehed, but he believed he might
venture to say, had been irreproachable ; and of this
he was certain, that if the House should not consider
the merits of the case as sufficient to call for the ac-
quitlal of Colonel Orde, yet they would agree with;
ban, that the laW of the case did.

Mr. COCH R ANE JOHNSTON doubted the pro-
ptiety of the Hous.e interfering in this particular.
instance.

Mr. ABERCROMBIE was of opinion, that it was
Only on legal grounds, and not on the merits of the
case, that the pardon extended to Colonel Orde could
be granted.
Sir S. ROMILLY obser.ved, that the discustion
then going on was a great hardship upon Colonel
Orde, from which nothing could more powerfully
tend to relieve him th.ln the publication of all the
facts of the case. It he (Sir S. Romilly) were the
hied Of Colonel Orde, his advice would be, to give
the whole of the Trial to the Public. The Honour-
able Member (Mr. M. Sutton), in reply to his Hon^
Friend, by whom the Motion had been made, ad-
verted to such cases only as he supposed himt7elt
Capable of answering, but was totally silent as to
others by tar the most important. Captain Tyon had
been detained two years under arrest without trial.—
elle private soldier had suffered not only punishment
in.:ignity. Was it hinity—was it humanity, to
ivaict upon a man, for the mere suspicion of drUn-
kenness, sixty lashes with the canteen strap—an in-
strument declared by a Surgeon more severe than
that (the cat-o'-nine-tails) usually applied. What
must be the condition of a regiment where such pu-
nishment was thankfully received ? It appeared, that
112,000 lashes had been inflicted between 400 men.
The excesses and iniabordination of this regiment
was a strong argument against the general system,
us it is practised in the Army. It appeared the
hequency of offences was proportioned to the
severity of the punishment. (Thar, irar.)--
tt appeared that for a trivial offence, a man was
compelled to walk with two knap.sacks during an
entire day, under a burning sun, in the climate of
Bermuda. This man, in suffering agorl7, endeavours
to conceal himself ; his offence is called desertion ;
he is sentenced to 1000 lashes, 500 of which he ac.
wally receives. In justice to the Crown, to the Coun-
try, to the Army, and to Colonel Orde, the whole of
this transaction should be given to the public. Why
was he sent back to the regiment, and smarting under
a reprimand to meet his accusers? A common man
(4 would not ay Colonel Orde, whom he did not