Star. — London, England, 1803-06-21 00:00:00

1 . . . . .. praviding th e Mi;itia with Officare.. He vatted a fy: .k as he fel-, with entire rcfpcit to the OfPrers ' v.hicir wcre railed under the Militia Law', but it was irnpuffible to reran to !hit principle in the prefent inftance.—We had found it ompoffibk to find them even for our prefent 70,000 men, railed by way of Militia, it would theref :re be fruidefs to hope for railing them in the manner provided by the Militia Law. This had been found abiblutely impoffible lalt year, and for that reafon another court for providing Officers for the Militia mull have been adopted, as it had indeed been already adopted. It was mod certain that many excellent Officers were now wholly unemployed, and we had an opportunity :of referring to our Officers on half-pay. In addition to 'this, recourfe might be had with great advantage to many excellent Officers, who had quitted the fervice for want of an encouraging profpeft of promotion. Many of there he knew would come forward, and be ready on the prefent cccafion, and give their bell at tention to this army. He knew that fifty Battalions, of one thoufand men each, would require a great number of Officers. But betides the Officers be had already Rated, recourfe might be had alto to the Officers of the Marines, a body of Gentlemen who mom many critical eccafions had (hewn the true energy of Bridal Officers; be thought that many of them might be retorted to with great advantage to this country at this conjunaure. The EaR India Service wool., alfo afford and render great aid, and' it it Mould be ncceffary, further affittance might be derived from the Fencibie regiments, which for die Lit ten years had rendered fuck material benefits to the country. The Recruiting Staff would alto give effential affidance. The General Officer (Hewitt), who was at the head of that Staff, was in himfelf a holt. If the Committee flaould agree to raife the army of referee, it would not want for able and me- J 4000116 Officers to bring it to perfeaion. The next point to be c.inadered was the extent to which its cervices might be direfled. Since the Union with Ireland. it was equally jull and necelfary that atten tion Mould be paid to that Kingdom, fo importantly connedc.d with our own. It might be laid, why fhould not the military offers of voluntary affi ance far that kingdom be accepted ? The reafon was this: there had been a sneafure in eoiatempiation for fimplifying and confolidating the general (Oleo oldie Militia Laws. With refine to the mode of railing them, it was, as he had already Rated, in tended to provide, that the men Mould be balloted fur four years, and rubditutes until one month after the Ratification of Peace; and be &mid propofe tome (mail advantages to t.- derived, over and above what the regular forces are entitled to.—The levy itfilf would be thus divided, acatsoo for the defence of Great Britain, and ro,coo for Ireland. The num ber to be railed by the fevers/ counties would be 31,0c0, nearly zhe amount of what the militia force was at the commencement of the late Peace-3000 by London, the Tower Hamlets, and the Cinque Ports, which latter places have not contrihoted to wards the Militia ; the remaining 6000 would be fornlilted by Scotland, making ao,oco, and, together with the force to be raifed iu It-elated, to,coo, would make the whole force yo,ooo.—Duringthe war, when K was found neceffary to augment the defence of the Kingdom. the Militia confided of 30,y00 men, to which might be added the (upplementary of 64.900 ; total Englifh Militia 94,70o—Scotch Wilkie 6000, which added, made a total of 1000300; and of 54,000 volunteer corps, made a whole force of fomewhat more than a i 4,000 men. At prefent the Englith Mili tia amounted to 40,963, Scotch 8000. hippie:runt ary 24.c00, total 72,03 ; which, with the army of re fare. ao,ooo, would make a total force of 112,963 effective men. The eflabliflament of Ireland in De cember a Bot was aB,goo, at prefent 18,395, which, with the i %coo army cf referee, would give nearly r he iime hr. „her as furnithed in the late war. This oft.t'l!flritnt will certainly require great additional barth.. - .s on the people t but when we (peak of bur the, ~ we 11111. i at the fame time bear in mind what is the objta for which thole btu-them are jimmied $ they ate to enab;c as to defend this country lions a fcene of pillaite, rain, and degradation, ruch as it has been die ill tate sit other countries to endure, but' , which this cow': s for many centuries has been an utter granger to.—." I come now to fprak ofebote et emptions which it wili be necelary to make. ill, I prop& to exempt all Officers holding commiffions' sn any regiment of the Line, or in an reginaene, of s the :•lilitia, whether .egular or fa watery. as alfo half-pay Officers. adly, All refs members of the Univerlities, clergy, and 'keeled preachers. As to this part of the exception, although I fbould with to except the teachers of every fat, kill we midi Lake care that no fraudulent evafion i. made ander unjull Pretences. idly, Clerks who have been articled previ ous to the date of his Majelly's Meffage. othly, Pro• feaional fearron and feafw ins perfons,ardice.s, and workmen in any , f hi, Maj tiy's dock yards. phly, Poor men who &mild hare more than one child under the age of to years, born in lawful wedlock; thigh* exception Mould lave a man from liability to be bal loted for, but (horrid he no objeasiot to a habilitate. In thefeexemptions I have thrown out gen-rally the claffes • to be exempted, without at all ufing that accuracy of expredion which would be necettary in the rirlls which it may hereafter be proper to bring in on this frihjeß. As to the Yeomanry and Vorunteets. al though I fhoriN a Mt to fhew as much indulgence as partible to there meritorious bodies of men, yet I think,, in the comae of lad war, we Sewed rather too much indolgehee in oar exemptions. I !air k a proper limit upon thin occadon would be to grant rtztro:h ..s to inch as have been enrol:ed in the Vo. luotcer C o pc previous to the 16tat of June, Igo:, and vista,: fel-vows Ibail be as extet.five as the military ttittriet to which they belong. If this mrafare, Sir, v hi. it i 1, eve prop•fed, dull be adopted. it will con tritnc mod eocetitally to carry en the War with vi glom ,11.1 I occ as, and ;non relpea more fo. than by al lowing • it raider:tide difpotable force to take advan tage el es try favourable chance which may occur. As to the particular fy it em of our military eltablielment, perhar it will be necellar 7, iiktinte, that it Raoul 1 un • deign a complete a evilion, and that the force of the country lhail he railed to the 'tea of its popula tion and refourees ; but at the prelate, I think the r-ezfores I have propnfcd not only fn3cietat for the (lettuce of the realm. bon alto to teach the Go vernment, or rather the Governor, of France, that thia Country is not in that weak and helplecs fiats that he has been taug ht to believe; that tt bar the 'neat,of driking him in very vulnerable pointsrtfor • . Ise has 'Own . punts), in 4 that . ho Volt . ; a war with Country he mug riot only till.: of methods to annoy us, but 'null alio look at !ionic, ?mid confult his Own fafety."—The Secimary con eluded, by moving en humble Addrefs to His Ma jelly. thanking him fro} his_ gracious Melrage.— (Thu Adtbef; real an echo of 'the MrAge, and war car,ied uua alto moved for an inflrunion to the Chairman, to move for a Bill, or B lls, to be brought in for the purpofe of railing in the molt fpeedy and efficacious manner an additional force fok the fecurity and proteftion of the realm. Mr. Wiezman role and obferved, that the Right Hon. Gentleman had introduced the cubit& with a fa leamity !bitable to the occafion. He agreed with him in the neeeffity of augmenting the force, and in the danger and novelty of the fituation of the Country. We were in a new Rite of things, new and unheard of dangers looked us in the face, and it was neceffary to recur to new methods; if we went on in the old courfe deflruaion would be the inevitable confequence. On this ground his chief objeaion retied. His Majelly's Government was purfuing the old courfe, which went to aggravate the evils produced by the caufe; and ef feetually (cried tocutup the army. This was undoubt edly the effelt, the regular army is not equal to the Population of the country, or the purpofes for which it is wanted. We had an immenfe Militia railed by bountiehand now it was propofed to raife an additional number by the fame means ; this he moil particularly objet to; be difapproved of allowingeommutation for fubftitution. This was a fort of railing the markets on the purchafer beyond the price of the commodity.— The mode which he would recommend to be adopted was, that perfons fo commuting Ihould pay a fixed fine to the Govcinent, and for that fum get a fubliitute for the regular army. This would have the effed of quickening the completion of a large regular force. He wiled all fubflitutes for the militia regiments to be abolilhed, as they tended to decreafe the regulars, the only life mode of defence. He would change the footing of fervice in the army for a term of years. It was the fir; merit of a book, as an Author once Paid, to make itfelf be read ; fo it was of an army, to make itfelf effeltual. Much of the evil to he dre W ed on the completion of an army was great bounties; and though men might enter for lefs, yet the recol• lesion that greater bounties were offered from other would operate in a great degree in regulat ing their eondua with refpea to the difference be tws.:n the Militia and the Regular Force; the latter was calculated for any fervice, and the fir fl for nothing but home fervice. Gentlemen were entitled to much credit fir the very meritorious manner in which they bad come forward to raife Volunteer Corps, and it was no reproach to them that they were not able to accoaplilh impoffibilities. It was evident from the conflitutinn of a force of that defcription that they never can have the difcipline of a regular army ; ' their officers were conneeted with them, and could not have the fame afcendancy over them as thole of the line. He mu ft utterlydeny,that, even for home fervice, it was impoffible to trufi ar.y but veteran foldiers with any reliance; he muff fill contend that the Govern mint ought to lay itfelf out to forma regular army. He might be anfwered, we cannot get that which is good. It might be fo ; but then if they could not get the belt, they mull put up with the next belt, and fo on. If they could not get the marculine gender which was more worthy, they mull be content with the feminine, and fo on to the neuter (a iargh.) • He would agree that the Militia force was better than none, and cer tainly within certain limits might be good; but then, by making choice of the Militia, Government had rendered it impoffible to have any better : when a bounty of is guineas was given to encourage men to enter into the Militia, and the Regulars only received ten-guinea', they would naturally prefer the higheft bounty. To be lure, he would allow a great lupe riority to be found in the Britifh Army, being offi cried by Gentlemen : though it could clot be laid the R cruising parties were exaftly in the fame predica ment. The grealell problem to fol ve was, how to make t%e whole of the force applicable, and render them an overmatch bathe fuperior advantages which the enemy would experience in point of numbers though he mull could's. that Inch was his opinion of Britilli prowefs, that with equal numbers no fear could attach ; but we were sot called upon to calculate upon probabilities; it was parable the enemy might land a greater force than we could find immediately. In the cafe of in ' vafion, if the y could let ashore too,ooo men, the very population of London alone might thew them what they had to expea, and what reliance they might place on their hopes of faccefs : but in colitis/ring this, it was neceirary to couple the feet with an other, namely, the mere phyfical Rrength at prefent on foot. We might look to the condua of Hanover in that refpea ; the inhabitants of the Eleeforate had furrendered every thing moll dear to them to the army of General Mother. So true was it, that when a forrefs is taken, a county fubmits. Inllead of indulging thole hopes, it would bell becoMe the coun try to dilcover, if poffible, how to apply the phyfical force to repel a regular army who may come to in vade. The fifty thoufand men to be railed was no. thing more than a Militia, which he mull again re peat were not the real and fubliantial (aligner& ef the century. Government would go on in this man ner diminilking the regulars until at length it would be entirely annlbilated. They had gone on difroant rmg the Navy, and dilbanding the troops, and in Ids then fix weeks afterwards they waked them back, and indeed of reuniting their flrength at the proper realm,. they bad delayed till long after the war was certain. This was a heavy charge again; Mi nitUrs, and though he did not with to prels it at pre. feat, lie mull not fuller it to pars out of his mind. He would alit, even after this addition was railed, was there enough done for the fecurity of the cam. try ? The Right Hon. Gentleman talked of his r 20 sad too.ooo's upon paper, which appeared very pretty, and like goods which were let for thew in the 'hop windows of the town, brit when examined, would not bear infpeCtion. Mr. Windham argued, that this fort of force was not competent to meet the enemy, and recommended an army m main Thailand', he obferved, would be willing to join in fuck a levy, and march to the attack, though not in regular files, with eyes to the right or left, and toes out (a Light. He ridiculed the modern prat:bee of Britiih military tac tics, and oblerved, that in the War 1 4 the great Duke of Marlborough, not much attention was paid whe ther the troops marched with the right or left leg foranoft. The prefent fyitem of French taffies, be believed, was in the goat old-fathioned ft)le, they . , fadveryjudicioofly thrown away tIQ hat of the oat, and grafped the kernel. Something of this fort, he was convineed, would have a Setter area in fecuring the Countty than any other teaching the provincials to fire With ball ; giving ffts:m a fort of Clinical Lature, would have a good ace.— (A laugh.)—He mull renounce that damnable doe tritte and heretical opinion, that the Country was not to be told of its danger. It was a bad compliment to the people to fay that early fear was not more fa lutary than that pernicious and deftrative fear found ed in the moment of danger. Time fhotild he given them to Common up their refolutions. He had heat d of many calms; the calm of fanguine hope, the ca:m of joy, the calm of defpair and gr ief, and the calm of thole who give themfelves up, and hide their heads under the bed.clothes, thinking they arc fate if not teen, (is reed kerb). Of a piece with all this was the proeMon of Knitters, held forth in lofty and pom pous expretnons. They Teem to be doing a great deal, with the affatation of bringing little before the Public. This was the plats which, Bonaparte was ;milling, and it might be a gond plan in that who meant to forprize, but certainly not in thrift to be furprised. So an officer who expefted to be attacked in his poll, and had received information to that ef fat, might fay to his Lieutenant in a whirper, w We !hall be attacked, but don't tell the guard." Tbis would be very injudicious conduft—lf the country was to be faved, it could only be done by co opera tion, by a voluntary exertion an nrs He would con:end, that Minters had feandaloully defer:ed their duty in not bringing forth the real lituation of the country at an earlier period, when every officer of dillingaifhed merit might have given in his opinion publicly, and perhaps have flract out fome plan for the general farety. He concluded with expreffing his determined hoffility to the meafure, which was big with future evils to the country. The CHANCELLOR of the EICHEVER ford it was not his intention to follow the Right Hon. Gentle man through the great variety of obfervations he had thought proper to make ; but lie would fubmit it to the candid judgment of the Houfe, whether his Ma jelly's Minifters were liable to the Right Hon. Gen tleman's charge of bringing forward tardy and ill con fidered meafures of preparation. It was now only five weeks fence his Majefty's MelTage had been de livered to the Houfe, and within :hat period so,ooo men had been voted, and the Supplementary Militia had been called out. Therefore he thought Minißers' had not preferved that kind of dignified calM which the Right Hon. Gentleman would afcribe to them. He difclaimed the imputation which the Right Hon.' Gentleman would attach to him and his colleagues, of wifhing to conceal the aftual Rate of the Country; and the fats he had Rated relative to the increafe of the Navy and the calling out of the Supplementary Militia were fufficient to Thew that the afrertinn of the Right Hon. Gentleman, that Minillers were fecret ini their preparations, was quite unfounded. In addi tion to thofe fate it was now propofed to raife so,ooo men by ballot, fimilar to the Militia, and free from two great objeltions which that Right Honoura ble.Gentleman himfelf had frequently urged again(' the Militia fyflem, namely, that it was to be more extended in its fervice, and that it was to be officered by men of military experience; a cireurnftance which mull fccure that difcipline which conllituted the life and foul of an army. The propofed force, therefore, was not liable to the objetions which the Right Hon. Gentleman would apply to the Militia. Many of the arguments of the Right Hon. Gentlethan be was ready to admit were entitled to great weight ; and if it was now a matter of option whether it was bet ter to have a regular than a Militia force, he was free to fay that he would have no difficulty in preferring the former, if in the prtfent circumflances it were prat icable to raife loch a force by the ordinary means within reafonable time. The greater part, however, of the' objeffions which the Right Honourable Gen tleman advanced this evening to the Militia fylient.l would have come with more propriety_in the courfe of the difeuffions which took place IA rations upon that fubjett ; bet, though the Right Honourable Geo-1 tleman now thought proper fo firongly to urge his oppofition to the meafure before the Committee, caufe it was founded on the plan of the militia, yet he admitted that the railing of a regular army in lieu or it was quite impraCticable. Therefore, dab Right Hon. Gentleman's only reafon for declining to vote ageing' this me-afore was, that it was better to have the propofed forte than 'meet all—but. the Righ: Hon. Gentleman's chief charge againft Mi oilier' was, their delay in bringing forward this men: lure. That delay, however, was deligned with this view, that both the regular and fupplimentary tia thould be fully (applied before the balloting necef fary for the force now under confideration would commence. Such was the motive which influenced that conchia in Minillers of which the Right Hon. Gentleman complain- 1, and the ralitude of this mo tive he fubmitted to the confideration of the COM . . mittee. Miniflers had proceeded by a gradual roc. ceffion of meafures to provide for the complete re fillance of the enemy, and in a way which he trolled would, on the fallen and fajta review, meet the ap probation of the Houfe. As to the Right Hon. Gentleman's resin= of the Militia fyftem, he would fay that this was not the proper time for that clif cuffion ; and he would ant the Right Hon. Gen tleroan how lie could fuppofe it pciffibk to recruit a re gular army to the number of yomoo men without re torting to means of compulfsun which he hoped the Righ, Hon. Gentleman would not himfelf approve t With refpat to the danger of the country he had no hefitation of raying that he never underrated it— neither in public or private did he ever attempt to difguife it. He felt it to be of that nature which could be contemplated without difiatty, bat which no worthy or rational man could contemplate with indif ference. To the Right Hon. Gentleman's ideas upon the propriety of railing men for the regular army foes limited time, there were many objeltions, the forte of which he felt, particularly in con f equence of our Ces. lonia] polreffi ~,,, ; for, fuppofing men were vilified for only five or fix years, (and he doubted whether recruits in general cared much whether the period was for life or for a limited period) what numerous inconve niences would arife to the fcrvice, etpecialls where rt ginsents were Rationed in Americo, the Wen Inches, or any remote quarter a the Empire. Perhaps id the event of a whole regiment being ordered home, or on any expedition, only the Ikeleton of (itch regiment would be forthcoming. In ton, he remarked. the (yam of the Right Hon. Cattleman fcarcely ever prevau .1 eelin any nation which had colonial porn:Moor and in thi country it would b: guile ;shard. Renr ing to the me.,fure h.fore the Committo-, an I Co! o! (creation of Ihe k ight Hon. Gen.,. man. hat it wool create a eiffictilly and imi•co::nent, if n it an ;all; mountable nbilacle in the way of recruiting the aim; he would 'ilk of the Houle t r co; it• charac9cr an objeet full), and if any better 'ninth! be funnelled t prefer it. If any Member couid devife a plan railing a force within the proper time by means on•r effectual and contlitutirmal, he certainly ()mold err brace it ; but even the Right Hon. Gentleman him, fell admitted that it was my. tlible. Why then di. he oppofe it ? But his opp firiln was not quite cr: redly founded, for his arg u ments ntrally applied t eat, ernes. He always dwelt I T . tweet; rettilar ...soy toff the militia. and entir e i that middle cool fe between them which was p ecriel the defcriptinn of the farce now under confideration therefore the Right Hon. Gentleman's objeSion did not firl&ly apply to this meafure. lie highly va feted the fervices of the regotlar :.rmy, of which th Right Hon. Gentleman had laid Is notch ; but boos ever be relied on the afli' , ance, or upon the zeal tin exertion of our other forces, he begged the Right Hon Gentleman, the Houfe s and tits Conntry, to multi Rand, that Goveinnient did not tr..an en 'rely to rely on there means, and tl.at the p: 11 i nov before the Committee was not the limit of the ar rangements in which they meant to confide for th• attainment of dint . ... objefto 'which induced the cons mencement of the wart for, independently of d o means already referred to, h e had no doubt what ever, that, mould ci coma - antes render it rime( fail, the great body of the popolati of the coon try wooll, upon an appeal from their Sovereign Rand forward in defence of their rights and indepen dente. Upon the promp• off:dance of loch a volun taffy force he confidently reckoned—fuch a farce a• mull render the count- v imprcg"able, and as' mut convince the per fon who now tined, the Co.'ernmen of France that it would be Orford to (peculate up(); a fuceefsful invation of this country. Perhaps it happy for the future interests of this empire that thi occation now offers of which we lbould decitivcl; avail ourfelves, to thew that any projea, attic I upon our finances and independence, filch as thl French Government feems to entertaln, mull be rail and futile. The Right Honourable Gentleman agaii exhorted the Committee to look at the plan helot. them,'to Alga any imptovements that might c cur to them, or 2 complete fubflittite. if they mull devife it. Wihout enquiring into the general fyi terns alluded to by the Right Honourable Gentle man, which it was not now necelTary to difeufs. h begged the Committee to confider uhether the pia fubmitted to their judgment was or was not fit to b adopted in the prefent potture of affairs, and calcu laced duly to fecond the other arrangements made t meet the fituation of the country ? 'lf it nas f thought, he begged of Gentlemen to turn in thei minds, and to recommend the bell means which migh occur to them of rendering it more effeelual, and cat rying it into complete mcution. I*. Pt rr exprefled his lineere concurrence in th liR feniiment of his Right Honourable Friend (th Chancellor of the Exchequer), and his entire apprd bation of the principle of the plan before the Con, mittee, but that he difapproved of time of its prol Gone. He withed, however, to referee all difmaiG of the detail for a future opportunity. Mr. BASTARD animadverted upon the fendments the Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Windham) as t the fyltem of the Militia. They were quite in cot fonance with thole conveyed in a circular letter ad dreffed to the Militia Officers (torn the War Otho when the Right Honourable Gentleman was in of The HOnofirable Member went on to vindi! ate th principles upon which the Militia was conftrudeel and cooelnded with exprefling his opinion that if di French thould invade this ifland, every man in th country fisould bear arms, arid that the militia fyile4 (bold form the bath of this general armament. ~ Colonel WOOD tirongly recommended th e a ppoi n t went of a permanent Military Council, in order cfire;rt the 'conduit of the war. It was to a fimila /Tacna of management. he believed, the lupe7:o Vans of the French army, and their fignal fuccefs oiu; mg the lag war, were to be attributed. He !ho igb it would be wifer to have I large body of miring railed than any other difpofeable force that hid bec yet fuggeßed. Mr. WINDHAM maintained that this was quite proper time to urge his objeftions to the mature un der dircullion, and to offer the obfertations he hat made on the comparative merits of the regular arm= and the Militia. I . Mr. Pyrr difclaimed any intention of conveying ai idea that this was not a proper time for the dilcuflon Of the meafure before the Committee, with thole whj might difapprnve of tic principle; and as his Rig',; Hon. Friend (Mr. Windham) Rood in that tituation his ideas were of coorfe quite cone& in point of time With almoft the whole of thole ideas, however, h. completely differed. though he concurred in the end, upon which his Right Hon. Friend profeffed to fount them, but to which, in his judgment, they did no apply. He had Rated &rove. that as he agreed it the principle of the plan before the Committee, he din not think it would be junifiable in him to obtrod. himfelf on the time of the Committee ; for as hi only define was to render this plan effeetnal I r re objea, it would anfwer of court . * to date his opinion in a future Rage; but as he 'was on his legs he tool occafion to fay that his objerftions applied to fume ci the exemptions, and particularly to the propofal allowing a pecuniary commutation far Cervices. f.. he had very ferious doubts whether it would be ogle in any cafe that a pecuniary fine Iboeld be aeo-pled His opinion was, that onleis the individual ballrottet fhould have his fubllitute forthcoming, perland :sr vice .bold be required. He declared that be fel great fatiefaftion at the outline of the plan under con tideration, and he was therefore cid - poled to give a filent vote (if his Right Hon. Friend had not apricots ceived him), unwilling to throw out any espredi .t of difference that might tend to interrupt that unari 'laity which, for general reatons, was In motets r • t o withed for at this conjoneture, and which, he hoped would prevail. Sir W. Youno warmly approved of the Reiolntielt mantes' by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. to adopt Rill farther menformot defence, and hoped that if the French army th,nold be rags tootle' to vii t country. • hey wor = ld find a every 1%1141 to fly to then IsAYODaSo . II I I I 7 I T I SBA not leti with courage wan with Ikill. Linen est