olutely useless, and the commander in a great
measure absolute; for he had not only the power of summoning such
officers as he might choose to sit on any trial--a prerogative unknown
to any civil court of judicature--but he was also at liberty to review
and altar the sentence; so that a man was subject to two trials for the
same offence, and the commander-in-chief was judge both of the guilt
and the punishment. By the final clause of this bill, martial law was
extended to all officers on half-pay; and the same arguments which had
been urged against this article in the navy-bill, were now repeated and
reinforced with redoubled fervour. Many reasons were offered to prove
that the half-pay was allotted as a recompence for past service; and the
opponents of the bill affirmed, that such an article, by augmenting the
dependents of the crown, might be very dangerous to the constitution.
On the other hand, the partisans of the ministry asserted, that the
half-pay was granted as a retaining fee; and that originally all
those who enjoyed this indulgence were deemed to be in actual service,
consequently subject to martial law. Mr. Pitt, who at this time
exercised the office of paymaster-general, with a rigour of integrity
unknown to the most disinterested of all his predecessors in that
department, espoused the clause in dispute as a necessary extension
of military discipline, which could never be attended with any bad
consequence to the liberty of the nation. The remarks which he made on
this occasion, implied an opinion that our liberties wholly existed in
dependence upon the direction of the sovereign, and the virtue of the
army. "To their virtue," said he, "we trust even at this hour, small
as our army is; to that virtue we must have trusted, had this bill been
modelled as its warmest opposers could have wished; and without this
virtue, should the lords, the commons, and the people of England
intrench themselves behind parchment up to the teeth, the sword will
find a passage to the vitals of the constitution." All the disputed
articles of the bill being sustained on the shoulders of a great
majority, it was conveyed to the upper house, where it excited another
violent contest. Upon the question whether officers on half-pay had not
been subject to martial law, the judges were consulted and divided in
their sentiments. The earl of Bath declared his opinion that martial law
did not extend to reformed officers; and opened all the sl