Star.
London, England, 1811-02-25 00:00:00

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ZwitrtteritLlCENCß.

from all thePaPsnos aatfrosetamilllisiet la • l'intski am - .. . ..
'almass, l° der which ; labour, net... Merely on the score of une.
the most aggravating manner, evidently ;forthe pm-. tibal talents and learetl;•tif on account of the high
pose of inflaming the minds of the soldiers, rendering
linfluence of the office of the Attorney-General ; not
them disaffected to the service, and subjecting the
public to all those calamities which would follow the merely because lam defendinglhe cause of those pro:
i s.
- secuted by the Crown, a circumstance which throw
effect which this publication was calculated to pro • i an odium upon defendants, in whose favour, in civil:
duce. The Attorney• General assumed it as a fact,
prosecutions, the presumption is; but because this
that wherever there was an army, it was absolutely
&erg! of libel is brought forward at a time. when the
necessary that that army should be governed by laws licentiousness of the press has reached a height which
which were not applicable to the rest of society, In' orrice time even
families, it was necessary that children should be obe- I it certainly has not attained at any f
in this country ; a licentiousness, whereby every boun-
alient te their parents, servants to their master; and
where this obedience did not obtain, the most serious dary is removed, and every obstacle overwhelmed. I
domestic evils were found to ensue. But there the ' will not say that no character is se exalted; because it
is not of the attacks upon exalted characters that I
evil ended. In the army it was otherwise. If once
the army was let loose from its code of laws, not only complain ; but I will say that no character is so hum-
would fellow the destruction of the military system, ble and so private, as to have escaped the libels of
but the dowrfall of the whole state. It was unneces-. those who seek to gratify an idle curiosity, or to flat-
ter a still less excusable malignity. To point out as
sacy to state the consequences which would ensue. It an object for the tongue of slander the men who is
could not be said, that this publication had not a ten- endeavouring to enter into private life, is with some
deity to these consequences; for what could tend to the road to popularity—with hundreds the means of
that end more directly than to represent the military a base subsistence. It is unnecessary for me to state
code as cruel and oppressive, and administered with the nature, consequences and grounds of this licen-
unnecessary severity ? Could such a representation i tiousness of
.the press ; and I am far from saying there
as this be exceeded in atrocity ? Yes, it could. The is nothing to extenuate it. It arises in a great degree
English army could be brought into comparison with ' from that love of publicity with which many are
the French-army, and the preference given to the lat. seized, to a degree which leads them to value their
ter. Having thus opened the principles, upon which , existence only in proportion as it is passed before the
n
the Attorney General.was sure the Jury would de- gaze of the world, and to care not what they do, so
tide this publication to be aslibel, he pi de& to as they be but talked of. In this particular the pubs
read and comment upon it as follows : • • lic at least are liberal, and never tail to reward him
" ONE THOUSAND LASHES! ! , who -ho panders to their gluttonous appetite. The con-
" The aggressors were not dank with as Bonaparte would have '
sequences, however, are fatal to the press itself, tend-
treated his refractory troops."—Speeek of the Attorney-General.
in g to alienate the minds of the fastest friends to its
This was the first motto, and implicated the libel freedom, and to lead them to doubt whether its abuse
which followed it, so closely; tbut-the ATTORNIY-GL were not greater than its use ; till at last, instead of
steam. took it to be a continuance,of thetlibel for which
blessing its light, thercome to consider it as a source
Mr. Cobbett had received the sentence of the Court. of certain mischief and" of' doubtful good. , Insteed
The second motto consisted the reports of military
il 4 confining public discussion to the characters of
punishments, collected. from all the London newspa- great men, and of, public actions, the press is eau:
pers Of whichit might be necessary to inforM some; pied in private scandal, and in ripping up the secret
of the Jury, that sixty different ones were published
t histories cf humble individuals. It is no small bard-
every week) and represented in one mass. 'ship in the presert case,tdo, that the defendants come
This was the second motto; and now the libel!
1 into Court after the judgment of several general li-
commences at once r--- ..
because,: the subject. of the libel being only
'
" The ATTORmyr-Gt Ps z am. said what was very true ;--these ! bets /
stated, it is natural. to conclude, that this is of the
aggreisurs have certainly not been dealt with as Bonaparte woillil ,
•Mr. Cobbett,or M
' have, treated his refractory troops,nor indeed as refractory ' same species with that of -which ~ . T.
Saturday the dispatches were finally closed at the ilized country whatever, save . All boa 1 1 y. re se lip been convicted. The Attorney-
. troops would be treated in any eiv
.. , _.,, •snsees, to draw a parallel
East India Hope, and delivered to the Pursers of and except only this country.—Here alone, in this land ofliberty, ' General has endeavoured •• ,I A
the undermentioned ships, viz. • .in this age of refinement—by a people who, with their usual con-
. ' siitency, have been in the habit of reproaching their neighbotrs between this case and that of Mr. Cobbett, in which
Hope, Captain .PANDIRORASS ; Taunton lt Castle, Captain • will the cruelty of their punishments—is still Inflicted a species it is unnecessary to fillow him ; for I trust I shall not
RICSAIDION ; and Princess Aintlia, Captain E. BA
161 " ; for of. tomirt, at least-as exquisite as any that was ever devised by the . proceed far before I shall 1 • *' • d have consrice you that
Madras and China. , infernal trirnuity of the Inquisition.—No, as the Attorney-Ge- the light is not more different f
rnm darkness, than the I
Rose, Captain SA N nic ANDS ; Metcalfe Captain Is st. • neral justly says, Bonaparte dots net treat his refractory troops in ,
Climatic, Captain SwiNvoN ; Castle Eden, Captain.C. CKE
'-...
osxmiTt this manner :there is not a man in his ranks whose back is seam- Prese t is f
n case rom all and each of those that have'
for Madras and Neural. ' ed with :he lacerating cat-o nine-tails •—is. soldiers have never preceded it. The conseque
nee.however, of all these
Marchioness of 1' seter; Captain BAYNLS • and Union C al , apt n' comrades stripped k prejudices
yet been brought up.to view one of their ms - , is excessively hurtful to my case ; and, in-
FAIRIAZ ; for St. Helena at il he l ' i rga . • ed —his limbs tied with ropes to a triangular machine; his back i ,d, I have to vwithstand a tide and torrent of •
Pre.l3-
Northamptea, Captain BAZZLIt j and Union, Capt. RANKIN t, .al . . . . 'e-
torn to.the bone by the mer al cutting whipcord, appliel by
dice directed nuts -a-days to almost every thing which
for Bombay and Bengal. . persons who relieve each other at short intervals, that they may .
Admiral Sir Jots: Bousase WARREN arrived on bring the full unexhaosted strength of a man to the work of t Comes in the suspicions sliaoe abatis printed. But
Friday at Portsmouth,. in the Swtrassate,74,,Captain • scourging.
pier
in soldiers have never yet, with tisagitng tars, :
listened to the piercing screams of a hirtnangertiture so tortured : • I should not have counselled the present defe d
to make a struggle 4 ants
to-day, unless their ease and merits
Ls° I' I)
; from Bermuda, having been selievest in the they
have never seen the blood Oozing from his rent fiesl3;•--tLez :were of an individual nature, and of such a nature
commandH of the Halifax station by Rear •Admirel 'have never beheld a surgeon, with dubious look. 'pressing the
ERBERT SAWYER, whom Si! JOHN left at BeSmuda agonized victim's pulse, anditealmly caleulat
il
iinoa, toss Tl 4 blow,
as will, I trust, induce the Court and the Jury to
how far sufferring ys . "itextrernr,in stretch forth their friendlyhand to prevent then from
;family,
the 21st ult. Sir JOHN and Lady WARREN, end s,sonc4. upon i le. In I
.. era can 01any . utterly sinking. 'lf I can shew that the intent' of
ton
set off on Saturday morning for Londrn. The notion of that mot bearhouumpg au! ,zhibids„„ oa Ai, side'
. the defendants was good MI (all th •
X was laudahle or.
.swlrrs
EMIL is ordered to Plymouth; to be docked and 'bell—++i .1/Via Alitiory Plitifie
i ,Ll,l 01 • • - • • ..• -• • 1 The whole of the above. paragraph, the Ammer' .sat ii anotherscluision), thee'
are they innocent and
.

.
fennel coatiotterl, wale eomperison with the 'trend*. f botistettleable. InWhateVer light the ectelpolitiott
and theolavious tendency.pf it was to elevatetheir con. Imay be considered critically, anA. as a piece of feria
.
.mml. tip oiNgo MISCH, FEL st ' duct, and to debase our.own. He then read the fol. , tinge althoitgh it be not an original article belonging
...,. ..-••• • 'Ma JUNO* inn% ANIS AMMO& • . . ' lowing part of the Libels . Ito the paper, tam content to consider the defendants,
• Moon the trial- of this criminal information, only i lo Weirsothoseirbont we have forced—heifersnee; It esSy be OR
dthe footing of its authors ; and if you should not
two:Special Jurors appeared, viz. Saints Bishop and esld.Ls punishes them some manner; that I- very trPl i
e;Tle fro- attribute. guilty intention to them as its composers,
Geo..Bagsger, Eeqrsh. .. . • *risen: his refractory troops, occasionally, in ehates ;•
and hi ag. t will be your duty to acquit them. This will he
Oravited capes, be puts them to death. But any °fittest severities ~.., Ttestion you
will have to decide; but at the
.• o After some CORsollatiOn. the ATTORNST-crIgNIRAL 'Tiprefgrable to tying a human ereature up like I dog, and curries '-'''
.
prayed' au sake, when the following common Jurors la. &Ala pieces With whipcord, Who would not go to prison same time, I
_w
.ill not disguise to y.O that you have
.etedeop the Jury r.' . :• . • tor two years, (as Bonaparte sent his military offenders, the At- now to try a far more t ivirtaitt q *estioi_whether
golaert ,Maynard, Henry,Tieykini, Thomas Rifson, John Sea. eh torney-Gerol supposed) or In uked for almost any term, rather from this time an Eaglishm in shall have the privilege
t btoek, David Miller, Willism Lonsdale, John Rotten,. Walter tent, occa-
than bier thertluil:ite, the almost Insupportable torn. 1 t
1 Roe Richird Bolton, and John Nuns. . phoned by the itditcoort of seven hundred or a thousand I's le.
'of free discussion, and, if d;scussion, of express:.4 of
Mr. RIGHABDSOv. opened the pleadings, by stating P his mercy compared with such suffering,. Besides, wha: is his opinions against, as well as for, any political mea.
a maeatn ood for after
that this was a criminal information filed against n
...an heir ever lle lia.s hatithecat-o%nine-tailsacrosshis back ? :are or statistical system ? The present is not an :n.
again hold lip his head among his felloWs ? One 'st ince of the convass of indi vi.itol character, of a par-
' john -Hunt and Leigh Hunt, the printer, and two of bribe pouf wretches executed ax Lincoln
. last Friday, it is sta'ed,
the proprietors of the Axe/deer, Sunday Newipaper, had been severely peniakrd in some regrew: The
_ probability is, . titular error if policy, or abase of syst .ni ; (I do oot.
fora seditious libel,' to which the defendants...had that to this' odious, ignominious fing ng, may be tract . .
d 1,,,,,,d &iv that an Englishman has th it privilege of discus-
-1 pleaded—Not GuiltY. ' - endand it cannot be doubted that he found the gallows less moo, too; but that is not now the qiestona); the pre.
; - cruel than the halberts. Surely, then, the Atto,uey-Cuncral sent question is as to his right .f discuss:ng a gene-
: The ATTORNEY-GENERAL stated, that he had ought not to stroke hit chin with such compliceticy, when lie
thought it incumbent on him to presentee the defen. refers to the manner in which nonatlartetterbeau;.,S
thuiast stibitdreieriss.—as his own opinion as to a particular cast of policy, whic
presentrah I had almost sai,i,on abstract qucstinn,—ofgorino.
h
' dents for aLibel ; the tendency of which was not only Weuc hde.SFise atld e
•detnjestythois: whoF
,cewesouid thcrei.kft inthis country. it has pleased the Legislature to adopt. It is a question
y We libertygive all credit to
to excite the disaffection of the soldiery, b re- now eedthe 'wishes of some of our great men ; whether wehave aright to endeavour to make that per.
ing that they were treated with improper and exces- yet while any thing remains to us in the shape of lree die. feet which we all so greatly admire—the constitution
I. sive severity, but (*hat was still more mischievous) cession. it is impossible that we shou sinkuintaolthhe abfle‘CvteSdi.tuvu,r,yt
of our army ; it is a question w!iether a mon, eche-
to represent the treatment of Bonaparte towards his
iennwhticahe the
FrraelacehonditiPoliet aoref li'luol"ngaparte'st ill:NeCitgte: we really mealy anxious for the elory of the army, may• pro-
troops, and the means which were used to enlist `7.
(and we lspeak the honest; conviction of our ltrarts), see nothing mote the good of the service, by shelving wherein its
,• them, as infinitely preferable to the system eniployed veconarly pitiable id the let er his soldiers when compared.with system is hurtful, and by pointing out those twee
lin Great Britain. The effect of this libel was obvi. that of our own Were we called opon to make our electlon be- which
prevent its attaioment of a greater degree of
ously to excite discontent and, dissatisfaction in the -
oritvieenorothe
whateverservices, the
cau
uuiedrusset wteofuorid
oart onrescdeedrectuidieeraubre
to
ea
perfection. Upon the soldier's feelings of nonotir de.
hinds of the soldiers. Who' hail already entered the mina& !Leone egree removed from for,
a liability to be petid the safety of eine kingdoms ; and, with this.
, British service, and to disincline others from entering .. -hood like a heats. It is Idle to talk about rendering the situa. consideration before him, is not that man the bene.
1 into that service. How'fatal such efforts were to the Lion of a British soldier pleasant to himself, or desirable, far less
factor of his country who endeavours to refine those
country; it was mOneceisarey, for the.Attorney-General "'immutable, in the estimation of others, while the whip is held
to•state. The defendants had chosen to select for'over his head—and laver his bead •ow for lo no country in notions of honour to the' uttermoat pitch of piefection I
Europe (with the exception, perhaps, of kussia, which, is. yet in ' These are the questions in this case ; and these your
;heir motto, what'they supposed him to have said upon a _fast of barbarity), is the military character so degraded. We verdict wil decide. It is well known that for many
the occasion of a former trial of this nature, when it have heard of an army of slaves, which had bravely withstood years the attention of the Legislature has been almost
became necessary fur the Attorney-General to prose. she aseerdssuatintheoirt utbeast.ert , beingedefifea4.ted,
jtio.aindiuditteritsedfacbmy
bare etelusively called to the importance of military policy.
cute Mr. Cobbett for animadversions of extreme se- . Thie
verity and'injustice, upon an occasion of a mutiny s brought sogfercibtly to their minds their former state of see- It is.not necessary for me to go into a detail of all the
in ; vitode and disgrace, that every honourable impulse at once fori• plans which have been at different times proposed; it
the Local Militia, which was punished by a Court- I stook their bosoms, and they betook themselves to flight and to s sufficient to state, that all of them have had one
Martial, with a sentence of lashes, the infliction of , howling. We
entertain
anhaalietyCtinbnt umtytlhaeteehathelr rlft:r. ;t: etlite
object in view, that of bettering the condition of the
part of which was remitted. The defendant on that ,
socountrymoriln Port.usg:arlo,opws . enbuwtec
we meow own that we shouldg
soldier. To some of these plans it is, however, ne.
occasion for his motto, or text, a statement of - tremble for the result, were tilieFrench General to dispatch agalott ceesary that I should direct our attention. The
the circumstance from the newspapers ; to which 'them a few hundred drummer ,each brandishing a ter-.'nice-tear." first I shall mention is that of shortening the term of
he subjoined a libel of extreme malignity, upbraid- If there were to be made any alteration in our mil'', military. service. Upon this subject Sir Robert Wil-
ing those who endeavoured to suppress the mutiny, rary code, it must be by increasing the number of those son, whoie presence in Court prevents me from say.
and insulting those who stood by to see it punished.
On that occasion, too, the defendants took an op- offences punishable by death ; and if a proposal were ing, that, as there is not one officer in the service
.made tothis effect, theAttorney-General should like to snore distinguished for gallantry.and skill, so there is
portuniey of speaking of the manner in which /Irina- know in what terms of severity the writer of this libel none more distinguished by an ardent, almost amonn-
parte was supposed to recruit his army, taunting and
reviling those who talked of his severity, and telling would attack the proposer of such a measure. The ting to a romantic, attachment to the profession of
Writer struck his balance between the supposed hard- arms ; not one in whom Bonaparte has a deidlier (I
them it vraeridiculous to animadvert on his cruelty shipsof our army and the real one's of Bonaparte's, and had nearly said a more personal) enemy, or this coins-
while so much gi eat r existed in our own army.— gave the final preference to the Corsican. Could the try and its allies a better friend. This gallant of&
After oliserving in. th:t.case Uro3 the mild sentence Jury hear this without indignation ? Was it possible cer, in the year 18041 published a tract upon the sub-
and still milder infliction which attended' the mutiny not. to see that the tendency of the libel was to _lie. ject of improving and reorganizing the military sys-
of those men who had risen upon their Officers, 'the- nate the soldier's love of his profession, and disincline tern. It was addressed to Mr. Pito*hose attention
Attorney-General supposed be did use the *sentence
,every* body else from embracing it? Could any thing was then 'directed to the subject , and mentions,
which the present defendants had selected for the be more pointedly mischievous ? The whole libel was among a variety of causes operating to deter men
motto of.their We 1..." The aggressors were not dealt , ,ittio-
y offensive : every sentence had the same ten- from military enlistment, the length of the term of
with as Bonaparte would have treated his refractory I
i done,- Of this tendency there could be no doubt i that eillistpient. The writer is, perhaps, warm in
troops."—Speech of the .efeterney-General. He.repeated andihe Jury would therefore heat from his Lordship much of Ms language ; and I should have held that
I this assertion now ; he verily believed it :in Bona- that this was a most mischievous and seditious libtl. author cheap indeed who could have touched upon
parte': army. the offenders would not have escaped The publication of the alledged libel was -then such a siilsject with all the coldness of a regimental
with their lives. Mr. Cobbett having been convicted proved. . ' return. •' Is not this enlistment for life," the gallant
for this libel, the present publishers took up • the sub- Mr. BROUGHAM then addressed the Court and the writer asks, o declaring to the world that the mai.
ject ; and whereas Mr. Cobbett took up a particular Jury on behalf of the defendants to the following ef• tary service is so ungrateful, that it is necessary to se.
instance of military punishnient upon which to tom- feet:—'s In rising to support the cause of these defen- cure.the soldier, otherwise he would never stay in it?"
anent, the present writers took all.they• could collect ! A ,1 , . abo,W,antly Sensible of thodilficulties un. He then talks of the liabili' ' the West
__ .

Ie ts“. , tai -le liability to seriti,ce in Je
India Islands as another great drawback to enlistment.
I may not agree with the writer in eve• y one of his ar-
guments; but GOD forbid that I should impure a libel
to the gallant officer. He proposes that the West
Indies should be given up. " That charnel-house,"
says he, " must be closed for ever against Bri-
tish troops." Did Sir Robert Wilson mean by
all this to disincline the regiments already there, or
about to embark thither, from the military service?
Far be it from me to impute any such intention to
him. This is the language of free discussion, and the
gallant writer speaks warmly because he thinks strong.
ly." . Honour is the nature of the tenure by which the
soldier holds his sword; anchnpon the subject of mili.
tart' punishments, the writerenters at once inlangeage
certainly not weaker than that of the publication before
you. " The second and equally strong check to mi-
litary inlistnient," says he, "is the frequency of
military punishment. The late Sir R. Abercrombie,"
he adds in a note, a was an enemy to it for light of-
fences; and. Lord Moira, and almostevery General
in the service, are universal enemies to it." And how
is there any chance of subverting the system, unless,
by facts and reasoning, the country and the legisla.
tore are convinced of its error ? Sir Robert Wilson
does not represent a picture of military punishment,
too frightful as it is for patient examination ; bet be
does say that there is no mode so disgraceful as that
of punishment by flogging, and more inconsistent
with the' military character; and is justly severe
when he sees that punishment, which should be
awarded only to crimes- of the blackest die, inflicted
upon petty breaches of military law. He attributes his-
early respect for the army to the circumstance of his
having bees educated in a regiment, in a face of
1 which the triangle: were never planted, and of which
every man therefore walked erect and conscious of the
dignity of a soldier., "There is no maxim, (hkob.
serves,) more true, than that cruelty is a mark of
cow4rdice—humanity of bravery. To a command.
ing,e4ficee. possessing-the latter qualities, a thousand
methods of commuting the punishment of flogging
foe* better mode of punishment would suggest them- .
szNes.” lie then proceeds to say, that if a return
wtse made of the number of soldiers ppnished, the
astonishment of the public would be excited ; and fv.
laces an instauce of an Irish Qoinkna,nder who once
flagged 70 men in one day, and-resumed the employ.
:meta the next morning. "Corporal punishments (he
concludes) never reform a corps; they break the
dier's spirit, without mending his disposition : the
cat-o-nineaails defeats every end of punishment, only
rendering tl:e soldier despicable in his own eyes, and
the object of opprobrium in those of ethers." I
admit that this;is a topic g delicacy, but it was the
gallant officer's duty to touch upon it, from which,
as an upright man, he was not deterred by the fear
of having attribteed to him motives by which he was
never acatiated. lieafterwardsremarks the melancholy
truth, that:Military ptinishments*Subdue every amiss.
ble disposition., ,and familiarizes gentlertun by every
right of education and birth, to scenes with which no
other, civilized nation is acquainted. " Why be
asks) s:iotrld En land be the last to adopt the .hs.
mane systeM ?. France allows of flogging only ilk
her marine: and in no other country, save and cacao"
England alone, is that systemconstantly resorted to.
[Taro mil'