THE MARQUESS OF CLANRICARDEasked the Secretary for War what course the Government intended to pursue for the purpose of bringing to justice the mutineers at Nenagh—whether they proposed to have them punished under the civil or military law? He would add, that he felt it his duty to bear testimony to the promptitude, energy, and decision which were shown by General Chatterton, the general commanding the district, in putting down the mutiny.
§ LORD PANMUREsaid, he would state at once that the mutiny at Nenagh would be dealt with by the Government with the utmost firmness. Their Lordships were aware that in the course of the mutiny various outrages were committed, including one case of murder, and three serious cases of assault. According to the regulations observed in the army, as well as in civil life, the accused parties in those cases would be delivered over to the civil tribunals, to be proceeded against by them. He was happy to state that he had received from the authorities in Ireland information which led him to believe that the ringleaders in the mutiny would be identified and speedily brought to justice. Those offenders who had been guilty of purely military offences would be dealt with by the military authorities. He thought it right to bear testimony to the admirable behaviour of the whole of the rest of the Irish militia, and he was assured by the Secretary for Ireland that such of the Irish militia as had returned home were perfectly contented with the terms on which they had been dismissed. He wished, also, to bear testimony to the energy and zeal of General Chatterton, in the discharge of the grave and responsible duties which were entrusted to him on the occasion of this unfortunate occurrence.
§ THE EARL OF ELLENBOROUGHsaid, he had that morning been examining some 1348 papers in reference to the militia, which enabled him to confirm the terms of praise in which the noble Lord the Secretary for War had spoken of the Irish militia. He found that, while the desertions, or, more properly speaking, the absences from muster had been 23½ per cent in the English militia and 20 per cent in the Scotch militia, they had been less than 5 per cent in the Irish militia. In the same manner, while the enlistments into the regular army were 7¼ per cent from the English militia and 14½ from the Scotch, they had been 21 per cent from the Irish militia. So that the Irish militia was incomparably the most valuable militia force of the three.