Star. — London, England, 1804-04-24 00:00:00

. as of be we cut of us to ;en- are 3111. ,uld de mt. I try and li.la vd. )u fe go r to has ILIc into the tine rginns by the Honourable Gentle r;tt.lord;may circomliAnces trey . tray tdin ti y modea of preceetliny \A etc indeed Cl.tielol,llll.lll, it r. .• s • rim ~rh u I•ss• tliAt the crili• i mess ing , Istly WAS pOl. the do .11.. n•9Ctl ~I matt affeas to acquit Miniffers o'any Warne in intro ducing the affertion of that particular prerogative into that Bill, by ',returning that in their anxiety to prepare for the defence of the country, a finitary in fiance of recognizing it might have efcaped their obfervation. Sir, 1. defire that principle may be thoroughly examined and enquired into, I defire that it be not taken, po odmip, but that it may (land on its fair, and general conflitutional grounds. With refpedl to the Hon. Gentleman's motion, I am to look for other motives, than thole he has thought prudent to avow, for propoting it. I am to leek for other reafons, for a motion peculiarly calculated to collet:I all the floating opinions of the Houle, and to create Mich an oppofitiois to his Ma jelly's hlinillers as would tend to produce a change of adminiliration. If that be the objedl of the Hon. Gentleman's motion,. let him (late fo, broadly and unequivocally ; let him produce fome fpecific accufa. tion ; let him bring forward fome dire& explicit charge ; and let him take the fenfe of the Houle on It ; but let him not bring it forward in this covert and underhand mode, and by a detour endeavour to fligmatize thole he has not the courage to accufe boldly and manfully. Let not the Hon. Gentleman, I fay, have recourfe to a paltry expedient of this na tore, it is unworthy of him. If we are fairly at tacked, if we are accufed upon fpecific grounds, we are ready and willing to meet the charge, and we (ball find, I troll, no difficulty in defending and juf tifying mirfelves upon fair, open, and conflitutional principles. To the motion of the Honourable Gen tleman I feel the Itrongeft objedlions, and I am bound to refill it upon every conlideration of pru dence and of public policy. I call upon every Member of this Houle to look at the (Late of the country, and to fay, whether fuch a Committee Is pradlicable or advifeable ? To accompilfh all 'he objeels propofed by it, you mutt bring officers from their duty, with great inconvenience to the public lervice, and poCibly with greater danger to the public fafety ; you mull condi documents and information from various quarters, you mull lave all the records and accounts, the plans and the propofals that are poffeffeft by, of have been fubmitted to the different departments, laid on that table and examined t and, what is no trivial objection, made public, before you can come to a right, or indeed to any conclufion, as to whether the naval and military force of the country has been properly employed and adminiftered. Ido not mean to fay, that a great [late neceffity may not juilify the appointment of fuch Is Committee; but I leave it to the wifclom tot the Houle to determine, if any proofs of fuch ne eeffity have been advanced in fupport of the prefent dangerous and extraordinary meafure. It is, upon thefe grounds, I oppofe the motion of the Honour- able Gentleman, and 1 hope that a great majority of this Houle will agree with. me in opinion, that no - found reafons have been urged to recommend it that no neceffity has been proved to jutlify it ; and that as it has been brought forward from motives different from what are profelfed, it is unworthy to be entertained or adopted by the Houle." Mr. Before I proceed to explain to the Monk, the reafons which induce me to give my cor dial and zealous fupport to the motion of the Hon. Gentleman oppofite ; I cannot help laying a few words upon the mode of argument purfued by the Right Hon. Gentleman who has kill fat down. The Right Hon. Gentleman lays, that the motion of the Honourable Gentleman is calculated to embrace numbers who entertain different views and opinions refpeEling the fyflem of public defence. The motion indeed, is undoubtedly calculated to obtain the con currence, not of thole merely who differ on minute grounds : nut of thole who make infignificant criti cifms upon the various mcafures of adminillration ; but it is calculated to unite all thole who have grave ly and difpaffionately weighed the dangers and diffi. culties of our fituation ; all thole who by a careful retrofrea of the condo& of Government, previous to that war which they have declared to be fo long im pending, and fubfequent to its commencement, have arrived at a retie& convidlion of the inability of Mi milers to devife, or to execute any meafures ade quate to the demands of the public lafety, and to the arduous nature of the contlia. The motion is cal. culated to unite all thole, who, by the espe:ience of the hit twelve months, in which Minifiers have ex baulled their minds in attempts to modify, to amend, or to improve the various meafores for the public defence that have been fuggelied ; and who Rill are lb far behind what the ciicurnitances of this eventful moment required, what the refources of the Empiie would have afforded, and the zeal and fpirit of the Country have ha cheerfully fupplied to petted the fyttcm of public defence. In a word, a motion cal culated to unite all thof: who conf:i..minutly bd eve, that from and under the prelent Islinillet s no MCA force of fuitable vigour and energy are to be ex• prEted ; that no fair chance can be given to the Coun try that its fafety will he fufficiently provided, its re fources wifely called forth, and its poster luccefsfully exerted. It is in this view that I confider the motion, for almoil all the reafons urged by the Right Hon. nviver, and for others which he did not Rate. The 11.mourable Gentleman below, however, who has enjoyed the opportunity of acquiring an intimate liiowledge of the proceedings of the linuie, flys, that neither in h:s recolledlion of tl.c Journals has Mich a motion been made, nor even in his imagina tion can he conceive that any thing In extraordinary could dilgiace them. But if it were true that the tooti , 4l is extraordinary, perhaps it v.:old be cient to urge what bias often been ty,;.d ~...er lit.at it wo•.:dlsc aufwer tnongh to 11. hab row laded a year, an .t peace avowed in the manifeffs , • c •• b: -n a pct petual feetsc of aggr..f.. u. fist wardtt• thing but v hat WA•C. , IIII inadequate ; that whatever 0 lay, la (station and unces ; that, famed f-r a moment to he “nd:sst lust. vikasr, st v quickly fneceeded by a cond,l4l that kernel • rim retrafiatirn and dis:tvt•v•al of tho mipulfe. It is. nielanclmly indeeJ time for mature CMlflic. /tit ono. tcpe.t•J ut..t ao lyttem had been found which cs uli Alf ua of t fectuity to which the country WA s ZI w" ..1 k•••• 1. c ,, n) m , n)( ;tied, and an bring the war to a fuecefsful termination. The Honourable Gentleman lays, that Minitters do Dot greatly differ from thole who think an armed pea fantry calculated to be ufefully employed, but that they prefer the Volunteer force. The queflion, however, is not of but of adding. It is not that the Volunteer fyftem Shall be abo lifhed, but that an additional force in aid of them is to be obtained. If, then, Minifters approve of fuels a mode of increafing the means of defence, why do they not announce their intention of taking tome Reps to obtain that advantage ? Hoverer Gen tlemen may differ as to the degree of utility, the mode of application, the local circumllances in which an armed peafantry would be defirable, it is not difput ed that, in many fituations, the efforts of the pea. fantry world be of the greateft advantage. Why then does not the Honourable Gentleman propole to enter upon the confideration without delay ? Have we not been told by Minillers for thefe fix months pall, that the invalion might take place perhaps with in 24 hours ? Is it a time to procraStinate any wife meafure, any efficient plans of defence, at a period when we fee that the enemy have furmounted many of thole preliminary difficulties which Some months ago were deemed invincible ? Have not the enemy fupplied thofe means of conveyance which it was at firft thought mull render all the threats of the enemy vain and futile ? Have they not, in the face of that navy which Minitters fo confideni. ly !naafi has been carried to its utmoft Strength, and has been difiributed with the moil pale& judgment, have they not, within fight of our Shores and in defi ance of our oMtruCtion, affeinbled in one port between t 3 and t.poo veffels, capable of conveying from 50 to too and 150 men each ? Have they not proved that all our reafonings about the impdfibility of fail ing from one port, the difficulty of a concerted attack, the obStacle of winds and tides, were unfounded, and that the contempt we entertained for their prepara tions and for their menaces were ill-founded and un warranted. With fuch facts before us, ought we to fufpend or drtay any means that can contribute to our fafety ? We ought not to treat with contempt, or with a faille fecurity pronounce impraCticable, the projects of a bold, enterprising, and defperate, though often fortunate enemy, and one, too, that never flood in the way of good fortune by a dread of bad. If, then, an armed peafantry is calculated to be of any utility in Elk:, Kent, or Suffex, in oppofing an enemy and retarding their progrefs to the metro polis, it is fit that no time fliould be loft in deviling a plan for obtaining this additional aid. The Hon. Gentleman next contends, that the motion is uncon- Ritutional; but what is there unconftitutional in refer ring to the confideration of a Committee of the whole Houfe, which I underfland to be the objet of the mo tion (Mr. For nodded Arent), certain Aets pallid by the Legiflature, fo that they may be modified, altered, and improved. Is the Hon. Gent. who In long filled that chair, with fo much credit to hinsfelf and advan tage to the Houle, fs little acquainted with parlia mentary ufages as not to know, that in a Committee of the whole Houle alone feveral proceedings can re gularly originate. Matters of religion, grievance. trade, finance, Ste. mutt firft be difcuffed in a Com mittee of the whole Houle. If, then, queftions on thole fubjeets mull originate in a Committee, can there be any Scruple to refer to a fimilar Committee, a meafure, the object of which is to defend everything that is dear and valuable to a State, the religion which exalts, the commerce which enriches, the laws which regulate and protelt ? Is there any thing ex traordinary, any thing dangerous, then, in the preterit motion ? Will it be laid that the fytlem of defence is fo good that there is nothing to be added to it ? Is the experience of it on its fruits and effeCts fuch as to encourage us to rely with implicit confidence in the energy and refources of Minifters ? What meathies have they ever adopted that have not been thwarted by fome other of their meafures ? What efficient plan has been propofed for the recruiting the regular ar my ? Can we indulge the vain and chimerical hope, that, without any new regulations as to the period of fervice, fuch as thofe propofed by the Right Honourable Gentleman, recruits will be obtained for eight guineas, when they could hardly be pro cured for forty or fifty pounds ? Is k upon the wit dons, the vigilance, and the energy of theft Mini• nets that we can r e.y, n hen we have teen that no one meafnre for the public defence, can be Paid to have truly originated from them ;when feveral they have re tarded or enfeebled? I am fatit•fied that fome plan fur the permanent recruiting of the army ought to he fettled, and that we ought with all ditpatch to proceed to that important fulsjeCt. But ncgletning the rep!. lar army, have hlinillers improved and per fated that ()aunt of the Volunteers, in which they have fnent fu much time. I venture to affirm, that the Volunteer fy Item is Still far from that Rate of per fettion to which it might be carried. The Army of Referee, inflead of being fufpended, fhould be modi fied. In regard to fortifications too, in which, hi thci to, to little has been done, I will venture to date, due precautions in that department have been much neglelled, and that many things have been omitted to be done, which, in cafe of invation, would tend both to lave the lives of men and to check the pro grefs of an invader. From all that I have heard too on the fithjed of the navy, arid in fpite of that magnificent catalogue of (hips which Minitiers have produced, and which I (hall not' at preterit diffea, 1 mull repeat, that the conduit of that branch of our defence, has not been Such as the public had a right to capett, and upon this Subject I !way take an oupor i:y to flute circurndarices that will the I and the country. Theft ay.d many uglier con. 11.;etation. form the moll conclufis c argonivit r, fa. s Lir of 1!:e motion, and though the it:. 1 /...a (;en: ria.!a it, did not dilate on Oleic topics, he ..1.• %..1, and !fated his ea p e d a ti tal , t h.„ s, : it en up by other fpcaLers in the coolie t I t:e It I, true that Minifters on Obi. as en for 4-.k_have given us aynnipous enuno•- ~~:_~ _ . (.! tic of t.c country. I have lica:d that :Luc ni:nt A I , l * .dc. It •tr..tds t h e mnft cord , dotary cci t the country is capable of doing. Myn,her, of this Houle have at Icafl 1 a righ.: to exult in that Purvey of onr liretigth as :!cr , . We Lave r. ~t been wanting in our CICT- I. conttisute to call forth the fpi, It of the e••iir -30,1 to organic,: it,. Ilrength. That fpilit and Lewevci, l.clong to the country, and a:e af.:ribcd to the ditc.9ion or the enercy of the Indeed, it time he auy ought (;. c t'lliClit perfonal merit, it is the prefentßas who have had In little (hare in the national energy. No one meafttre can they claim as their own ; no one met lure have they improved and perfected; very mans ilicy have weakened by their vlelays, and dedroyed by their incongruities. Whatever then the fpirit and zeal of a free and brave people may have beer, under the fenCe of danger, ought fairly to be fepa. rated from the tardinefs; languor and imbecility nt Mini:lets in every thing of which they have alrumed the direttion. Minitle,s boa:t of what othars have fogge,ied or voluntary pubic zeal has effeacd, a if what was done were perfeetly adequate to our fc curity. But is it enough to hay.; provided againti the danger of a final conquell ? Enough has not been came, toilet's we have adopted every pi afti cable and rational means of checking the enemy (hould they invade our then-es, with the leaft facri. five of life, with the leatt wane of the public re• fonrces, with a rapidity that will difappoint the ene my's prcjeas of devallation. Enough has not been done, unlefs every thing has been provided by which in the lhortell (pace we may be enabled to defeat the enemy with that lignal overthrow and deltruftion, as will for ever deter them from a repeLition of the attack, and for ever relieve the country from the alartn and anxiety of invasion. Ido not mean to fay that the enemy would, according to all human calculation, fucceed in their defigns, even had we no other means of defence but thole which now exilt ; but have we reafon to believe that our arength is yet arrayed in the bell manner, that our forces are diftributed at the proper points, fo as to aft with the mull &chive effect ? Unlefs this be done (as I fear it is not), it is not enough to fay that we have 184,000 Regulars and Militia, and 400,000 Volunteers ; and indeed, when it is proved by their own Ratements that the refources of the country are fo great, it forms an additional ground of cenfure againft Minillers, if our fyßem of defence be not adequate to every demand. —As to the obfervations which have been made upon the amount of force which Ihould have been kept up during the peace, and the proportion which exalted at the renewal of the war, whatever I may think with Yelped to the opinion held by the Hon. Gentle maa who opened the debate, on a former occafion, I cannot without furprife hear from the Right Hon. Gentleman who has jolt fat down, that he conceived the force which was maintained during the peace as amply fufficient to meet any probable emergency ; for that Right Hon. Gentleman was in pciffeflion of much knowledge of the difpnfition of the enemy which mull have fatisfied his mind of the propriety of making more extentive preparations for a Rate of hoftility. That knowledge the Right Hon. Gentle man, to be lure, Rudioufly concealed from Parlia ment ; and, therefore, the Hon. Gentleman upon the oppofite Bench was, with many others, incom petent to form any opinion of the impending danger. But not fo his Majetty's Minifters, who had yet ne gletied to provide againft it. They, who by a mani fcflo lance publifbed to the world, explained that there were grounds alnaoß from immediately after the con clufion of the peace to complain of the condufl and to fufpeft the intentions of Bonaparte, had yetomitted to &vile meafures to counteraCt his defigns, and to put the country in a Rate fitted for the delcription of hoftility to be apprehended. In this Rate the country is not in point of fait even now placed ; and this forms one of my reafons for concurring in the mo tion before the Houle, becaufe, as they who thought the peace not likely to continue, did not prepare for war, and who, tince the war has commenced, have not preferved that courfe of vigorous exertion which the fituation of the Empire called for, are not thole in whom I would confide for the ettablifh ment cf our fecurity. Minilters forefaw the war, and yet they did not attempt to ballot for the mili tia as they Ihould have done during the peace. They Ihould have availed theinklves of that period, when they mull, according to their own coot - olio:is lance fo repeatedly made, have contemplated war as lome thing more than probable, fro every means in motion for defending the country againa invalion. The ob. fervations they were enabled to make at the chile of the hitt war, of the plans and purpofe of Bonaparte, were fullicient to allure them that his firlt motion was an invalion of this country, which the (port period that elapted between the eßablifitment of peace upon the Continent, and the conellifion if the Treaty of Amiens, did not qualify him to attempt, hut the ',rowel; of his then preparations ferved to thew that his refolution was not to make defultory attacks upon us, but to do that which he has lance accomplithed, viz. to colic& a large farce upon fon:e part of the coati molt convenient for the purpofe e f making a de -Icent upon this country. What then are we to think of thole Ministers who, with fuch an opportunity of obfervatti n, overlooked renewing the ballot for that important part of our force, the militia, during peace ? And how did they aft towards the volunteers, on whole gallantry they now profefs fo much to rely ? The Haute mutt have in rerolleftion the letters which Miniftera addreifed to that body of met, duriog the peace, which letters were 10 much calculated rather to clamp than to animate and ei-courage the zeal of thole cot ps. But this was not all ; for, under circum fiances peculiarly aufpicions for the put pole, and with the prolpefts before them I have already mentitilied, they rettikel to attend to a plat, lopgetted to them tor orovioing a certain ret . out ce fur the recruring •old lopply of our regular army. This plan was founded upon the f•me pi iiaiple as that of the Army of ltekt ve, with the addition / toil ne• cafiun lately to lay bcf..re Ine I bode, .I.d which. if adopted v hea my ti. !:!II urged to Mini Reis, would haee :!._ rl.t -in. ul adding to out :t: ni y, with; l.tt •.., srt I.:ia than 40 in p!.in has, 1 a ni,;t, been lance adoioed in rut ; ind I ceitaii.ly f-el it .train and .1!:4•11 rw.ti .n I cot T:le 1 - 4 , •1•• I.d I.b t: e th: rt , , 1 con% rilictet pi it e It r ..t o.l> it lo brAnth t wL..S I ps.tc,ic uiicta it ti,ndTd in due time. da %.ith Tram hay cs liry ;11.7 And to the t xrci.tii•tt l t no to be adegii,tc. h) ail e ornitrt its 1 'Lon of ..!..ering the pet ' , id rf peace ; drawir.g a vcr their cor.Jl.l c:t that C.CCA:irl..iltogetLf ; a nd I.irpof w g the war teconint..nced a. notch t.' th e fen Mit fitters As to t:iat 1.1 mat.y pertUro. in that . :t ; r .r.g that Olt!' were not 4t as im.p.a:cd to cape& it—let ti• Cvmr chri• rr:)Ct.t that c%•ent, and kt t;s ' *rived or executed as to May a hope, muds ielk an pinion, of fafety to be derived from their exertion. l'he tirl part of their plan of defence. and that to Rhich they feernd principally to look,.related to vu :tusteers. This epic has, lam aware, been already very' fully difcutfed, and on that account overlooked, .)y the H. mutable Mover of the propntition before !Ire Houle; but upon this point I would set& to alit of Minifters whether they forefaw or had even a re mote idea at the commencement of hoflilities. that ' 'his defcription of our force would have extended Co fat—whether they contemplated that it ever fhould be fu numerous ? It was known by thofe who had .soy knowledge of their fentiments, who had any cow verfation with Minittcrs, that they had no fuch in tentions, and that on the contrary they expreffet their dilapprubation of the policy of their preclecef f,rs in allowing the Volunteer Syftem to enlarge fe much. This tad I allude to merely to then than they are entitled to no pride for the multiplication. of the Volunteers ; and to nate that the fpirit Which' produced the inereafe of that body arofe out of the difcuffions of this Houfe—a (ph it which, as jAinittera. themfelves admitted, far outvies their calculation or hopes; and alfo, as it feemed, exceeded their pelmet of direction. for they afterwards thought proper** check and retrain it. So much as to the origin off the Volunteer Syllcm. But how did Minifters pros teed to carry that fyftem into execution 1 Why, without going much at length into this part of the fubjed, which I do not mean at prefent, I will merely remark on the cafe of exemptions. which have bass much and very jelly objected to. The propriety of granting thefe exemptions I could never fee—certain it is that they were never neceffary ; for the Volun teers for the moll part required no Inch thing in the thape of encouragement to offer their fervices, and many of them were not at aU aware when they did engage that any exemptions were to be granted s on the contrary, it is notorious that they were feveral diftriels actually fubfcribing a certain am each to purchafe fuliftitutes for any of their body which might be ballotted for the Militia. Such was the (late of the Volunteers when the A& of PArlia• ment was paired with the throng recommendation of Minillers for allowing exemptions, clogged how ever with fuels conditions that the meafure was net to be well underthood. In another part of this Adt of Minifters, there was fomething fkill4efs intelli gible with refperfft to a Volunteer's right of refigna tion, upon which Minifters had evinced the molt complete want of penetration and forefight. Had they judged wifely, they never would have attempt ed to difpute this right; for, paradoxical as it may kens, nothing tends more to preferve difcipline among thofe corps than the undifputed exercife of this right ; and the reafon it this, that, while. a Vo lunteer has the right of leaving a corps. he cannot object to any regulation that may be deemed necef- fary by a commanding officer for the promotion of order and difcipline in fuch corps. the private hav ing his choice to fuhmit ox refign : but as to the adt of blinifters, the Attorney General. for whole )udg ment and learning I entertain the muff unfeigned refpea, interpreted the law upon refignations sn or way, and the Court of King's Bench in another. Minifters in this contradiction thought proper to circulate the opinion of the former as that to be ailed upon by the Volunteers, although they have lance avowed that they did not agree with that opi nion, and that they intended to introduce a decla ratory law upon the fubjed. This I mull cies among the molt unaccountable proceedings of • Minilters. As to the Volunteer fyllem generally. according to its preterit constitution, it appears to me to have feveral radical errors, and principally as to the mode in which the volunteers are eliftributed over the face of the country. When they were forming, and particularly when it was determined to limit their numbers, regard should have been bad to the proportion proper to be afligned to each dif tria. With that view, it would have been right to confider the difference between the inland and mari time counties—which were the more probable points of attack, and which was the moth important to pre ferve. Our great naval arfenals, and thole places which are molt contiguous to our principal manufac tories. ought of ceturfe to be the fir it objects of Go serarnent, in fettling the relative proportion of volun rect.% which the feveral dillrias thould b• allowed to furnish—allowed I call it, for it was at the difcretion of Government to accept the Cervices of many corps which they re;efted, and generally ,without any re terenee to the confideration of local defence which I have mentioned. When they thought proper to limit the volunteers to fix times the number of the militia. and f. r what reafon !cannot divine, they pin Stafford. shire and Detbythire quite on a par with tire maritime counties ; no driliation was made in favour of thole di'ftiets which lie molt convenient to the enemy's cnaff, and which are moth likely to be thetrit points of attack. Can any man fay that there was any thing like policy in loch .in arrangement. or that in deed there is to he found in any part 4 the itrukaure execution of the volitineei fylieni, fu far as Mini. Hers are concerned, that which can deferve the chi raner (.1 dii.:retion or the approa . 4l of a St:german There vs as, us fat, nn N ut of the conduct purfued by Gyve' ',meta towards the eels which did not form tom: groond to complaint, whichdid nut offer t;,rne evi,ierce of wavering and inconlittesicy. The Houle hi:, wits:ell - eh the t they took at the dole of r i le ; A il when all 11011(1UfabIC Gentleman on the ether file (M 7. Sl:eridan) undertook to panegy rife the real and gallantry of the Volunteers. When that Honourable Gentleman, two days before the lericirs cl .ted, thougiit proper, and, i n t h e iipini , 4l of is. ire intelligent Members, very pre m to move a Vote 1 , 1 Thank. to the Vo litateet, he hated that 'itch V.,te „rely a jut at Lt: 1. , 1 ti.e p lUtil . lll, they, who were then had but that it wool.l tordici v.lia:tary offers of ter vice. Mlliftet r: , 14.1(i. dw if thly of the 11":1-Go.ntl.man, out how did aet? 'Hue Hon Centlenian moved at ti c lams t.mc, that there th...:IJ he lard before tie If , •fe, at is meeting after the rzccf,, a lilt of lush new cnr; sac a., uid •cm , lonteet ; bat there cc a. Join! et lilt w:iieb the Hon. Gentleman ne,.7.e.:ted to m , ve fir, ' , vilely, of all the corps which th cad to redueed or reicifted in the fame niter cal (a laNshi. Had the Hon. Gentleman done fr., he would have ken what Me had been made of his sh for the tint ttcp taken by Minifters al ninft immediately after its adoption vas. to fur-fiend • an a. to - ta- sat e-. Co ld sr sd - re :to se rt• Dr et Df n. It a A s. A ib ly M a a a f- )f r- r. to N re I- I- fs ; of fe to 1 Is r• tcl sd LO 13- IS C- :3 C. o- n- I to 14 PS c. j lit a. cl- fe . 's is 11 o- re Li. a- ot cr Vi