In the remarks which we m...
The Times, 1824-10-27T00:00:00

In thie remarks which we made, anid mrust eontilte to make, on the soldiers not comnaittedJ by any kntiown law of England for the riot and assault at Chelsea, Nwe must again disavow any wish to aggravate the offi nco itself, or to sub- ject the offenders to an extraordinary severity of lpunish- ment, if the military shoildl suffer them to be tried, and a conviction take place. Our complaint is at the violation of the f.,onstittution ,by theoperation of a standing army duringpeace. Theriot and assault, it appears,were comnmitted so long ago as on Thursday, the 1-th inist., duinlg wlhiCi a Mlagistrate was insulted, threatened with death, an(l put in danger, other peace-officers wounded, and it was for sonie timne uln- certain that murder lihad riot tak1en place. The otffnders were niot brought up to the police-office tbr commitment till Friday, the hil instant, eight days after the riot. Where were they, we ask, during that interval? I'he civil power does not appeai to havc had hold of theni : monstrous as the thing woul(d once have seemed, the civil power dared not follow them. Mtur- der raight have been committed-it was uncertain for sc..ral days that murdLer had not been committed; .tur;n. hose days, the laws of the country were iu abey- ..nre ; the magistrates issued no warrants, the peace-offi- cers of theeoiutry dare(d take no stcps for the apprehension of the offeniders, heca?se they were s.'diers. As soon as the. offence *s committed, the offenders are taken into their barracks: those wlho follow theni to prefer a complaint are insulted. lhen. tire offenders are at last brought forward for exs ariiation, their officers bail tliem, and take them back with them into the barracks. These are the very practices of tihr: P;etoria Guanl I a L Rome.Their castrtz staoE'.h,or barracks, were on the confines of the city, by the road whliChl led to the .E irvaoi;'s villa: there they lived, in military pomp and haughty subjection to cach other ; but insulting, mal- treating, and beating the wretched crtizens, whienever they pleased, and retiring into their fastness for protection and secarity. We cntreat the classical reader to peruse the I 6th SatireofJOVENAI.-QUI. fS nunerrLre clueatlfelicis pyranuia, Guitle, Militia ?'? he will therein find the very description of the Chelsea riot, and the lKnightsbridge barracks. " Comuroda tractemus pririium comimunia, quoruni I-laud mininimum illad erit, nc te pulsare togatus "iAiicleat hino et si pulsetur. dis%imulet, nec Audeat excussos prmtori ostenidere dentes. Et nigran in facie tumidis livoribus ofiamn, Atque oculos medico nil pronitterite relictos." t But to retnrn to the laws of England. We find by sect. xvii. of the Military Law-that " if any officer or "soldier shall be accused of any capital crime, or of any violence or offence, against the person, estate, or pro- " perty of any of the KI NG'S subjects, the commanding officer shall usc his utmost cendeavour to deliver ot-er such ' accusedl person to the civil rnagistrate, and shall also be aiding to the officers of ju.tice ill seizing and apprehend- ing him, in order to bring him to trial," &c. WVe ask, therefore, were these men delivererd over to the civil ma- gistrate by the commanding officer of the barracks? Were they not, on the contrary, kept in the harracks, and out of the reach of the civil magistrate, for eight days, during which period it was uncertain whether they had not com- mitted murder, but very certain that they had commnitted violence against the persons of several of His ;IMAJEtTv 'S subjects ? I " Who can recount the advantages that wait, " Dear Gallus, on the military state P t i; And first, of benefits which all may share '- 'Tis somewhat thart no citizen shall dare " To strike you, or, though struck, return the blow " But wave the wrong; nor to tile Pra-tor show " His teeth dash'd out, his face deform'd with gore, " Ancd eyes no skill can promise to restore -GijTfbtd's Translation.