The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1808-03-09 00:00:00

nu- 51 I led ad Inv . 4 , at and I rill ct is rot. 413 dirt, spot the ground duet the example of 'men entering for life, would deter others trout catering at till, or that those entering for limited service, could preveut, others from uttering more extended servile. Itmust, however, be recollected, that !Milted ser vice had bens formerly found to be a licc...siary evil, and it was one that had existed before he (Mr. 11".) had brought it forward. Instead of haviug to con sider, as formerly, lime the cousin, shall procure au g r i m-, we have nor the Kittmlaeto,,, to cmia i t t.. r bow the country could twist preserve its army. Ile had the bandit:nem to state, that our regulars amounted to ditt,ool rook and tile, exclusive of ar tillery, out of which number there were 70,0uu fur liiiiited service. liut the House was aware, that the whole of oar foret,ol troops were raised for a h unted tern of servtce ; 0r that number there were about ati,uoo men entitled to their discharge at the end of seven years ; and is hat might, he would ask, be the consequence of this, were peace to be now effected, aud the period of their disewarge to be no medimitely auteeedeist to the bn:aking out of a new war? Could the Hight Hun. Gemmtleinan believe that this would be a proper state to Ica% e the.coun try, or that this would contribute to its safety ? The Itieht Houourable Centleinau opposite was much inistaLeu, if he considered the change which it ass hit iiitention to introduce a measure of re enlistment, wluni it . wase one merely of simple enlist ment. It was true that the system of the last Par liament, during time eighteen mouths it was con tiuited ill venison, had added to the recruiting in a greeter proportion thin in the corresimadine pest nods of the precedimig 'emirs, but the advance was not correaenalcut w.th the nieuns employed. It had 0:1 the whole added nothing to the strength of the army, but cowsielerably . umereased the expenSe. It had left u permanent ilicumbratice of four hue dred and ?My thousand pounds on the country, with an army cousiderably deteriorated in quality, Upon such grounds be suspected that the House would not feel inclined to perseveres in an unquali fied adherence to this plan, and that it would feel the advantoge of leaviiig to the soldier the option of sciretitig whether he shall wake the military service his profession for life or for a time to be limited. 'lhe Noble Ler" theo proposed that that there be inserted, c - -; a clause in the mntiny bill, to this effect—'e That person* enlisting in the army might be permitted to do so seithoat any li mitations of tier period of service, and that an oath of attestation to Own import be prefixed to this bill." Mr. Wiegman nue for the imrpose of objocting to the motion of the Noble Lord, because it wee-a clandestine aud insidious attempt to undermine that . vsteriv of the last year, which the Noble would not venture openly to attack. Im'Wed ther that system was advantageous or disad vantageous, was a questioti of argiusent ; but why emoting, on the tint view, that the latter was the case? But the Noble Lord has said the clause now proposed was an innocent one. Me must tell him, with authority, that the House of Continents has bad a ditkrent opinion ; that in a more resonit as se -a great portion of the House had expressed their hostility to this identical clause, wbeu iptroclueed by the Noble Lord in his Militia Measure of the lad Session, on the ground that it area to &Jut, and was the forerunner of the de- Maectior at the militorraystme introduced by the -late administration, and sawnotied by the adoption of the Legialature. it was on that occasion well .obsemved by all Honourable Member, that the Bill .was introduceds for the purpose of carrying into esecatiets this very clause, and not the clause in serted for the purpose of moistens.; the professed ob ject of 1,110 Bill. And yet the Noble Lord has this &eight asserted, that it VMS his intention only to pro pose an innocent alteration, although, on the eery Amcor the motion lie has now made, it was evident that it was his object to undermine aud subvert the whole of the spit= ofour military establishment, as approved by the last Parliament ; sad though the clause, which, per fat et *clot. Ise lima do ter:slued to carry, was refused on Ai former oroo sion by the House of Comninons, for this p l ain otos:son, that it weut to fritter and actually destroy the spirit of that system which had, after such serious uonsidenstion, received the solemn support and authority of the Legislature. it was not con tended that the decision of a former l'arliminemmt, or even of thesame Parliamkit, in a precediug Ses sion, went to restrict the House of Commons from reviving, or altering, or repealing a measure which had previously received a legislative sanction, •but it was at least sufficient to prove that such a measure was one of importatice, that its merits aught to be fully considered, and that at least full time should be allowed, in order to give the House of Commons the opportunity of investigating it in all its broacher; a n d that when the House wassai led upon to assent to a proposal, directly hostile to its 'twit mod operatMn,it became a duty with those with whom the proposal originated, to maLe a full and explicit communication, and not endeavour to.' steal it through in a secret and clandestine inaimer. Was such the mode adopted by the Noble Lord ? Did he afford to Parliament either the time or means for the oeceasary inquiry? Certainly not. — Ile introduced his clause almost without notice, in a bill which, above all others, it was imperative to pew with the greatest celerity ; in fact in a bill, the nature of which precluded the possibility of ac quiring information. It might be asked, in what other way amnia such an alteration as that now proposed he submitted to the discussion of this House, but as a provision of the mutiny bill ? He was ready to admit, that that was certainly the proper place, and baring said so, it was mmecessary to state, that the late Administration, in their Inca s:ire", acted upon tint opinion. But did they do ' so without notice ? Did they attempt to take the House by surprise, and surreptitiously steal their .plans into effect, under shelter of a Bill which it became necessary to• pass with precipitancy and haste ?. A reference to ties facts would afford a fell answer. In the month of April, Isati, when he first introduced the, military system• to Parli ament. in a speech, the length of 'which had ex posed him to repeated attacks from the Gentlernen noliosite, every mode was adopted to adoril to the House the most aceurate information. There was no reserve, no desi.e to elude investmerition. no artifice to take the House by surprise.— .tgain, in the sueeeediug year, when, on the 511/) i , •mo of Courts 'Martial, m ettain Onuses of rev:uln a:lw, not hkely to proelic:e any division of public itAry cminion, were joked properao be inserted in the Mutiny Bill, the iutentled pruvi,iuue were printed, iimal circulated for this wee of the Members, aud the subject was nut iotmduced until their nature and imeort were folly canvassed mud understood. Cow p.ve thee. facts with the combiet this eight pur sued by t lie Notefe I .erd. He has called upon the Homan to adopt a claisee, undermining the whole whitely eystein of the last Parliament, without any previous couinsuoicatiou, even of the intent . ',,,,, until wrung from him on the report of the Army Estimates, iihil with the exact import of which the House was unacquainted, until it heard the NOM: Lord this night. Was the ptiblje service safe in such hands ? Were the wholesome and coca stitutional cheeks of the Legislature, to guard agaitiot surprise, and to prevent an insidious ma umuvre, thus to be ..et at nought, and totailm violat ed ? It certainly was true, aud the Noble LOrd pro bubly acted upon the conviction, that it was much more easy to overthrow than to form agreat !system; bet in his opinion the great considerat ion at present was we so much on the merits of that measure, as it easoa the import an. e of having the House in full posseesiou of time means of for g its opinion, and regulating its judgment. On this night the Noble Lord appeared to have totally forgotten those don geia which be and Isis colleague* were in the lielat of predicting, at the period when the late Amiministration submitted their system to the rho uussiou of Parliament. Tuere was now uo re meinhruttce of the discontents and heart-burniugs to which the mixture of different periods of mili tary engagement e maul give birth tiuroughwit the various branches of our army. No, he was now deter ttt iii eil to carry his favourite clause under all circunistatices of tisk nod apprehension. There was no artifice to which he was uuwilling to *Map, and therefore he had made the insidious at tempt of profiting by the stage of the Mutiny Bill, in its progress through the Home. With the determination of way-layiug the Hill, the Noble Lord line *et out to meet fee machine on the road, and having *Lilo this packet of poison into the haaile of the guard, lie has given a wink hi the coachmatt to drive on ; he, time proprietor, telling them, that they must not stop ose tgo,nent, Imagine the vehicle must arrive atsa certain hour at the end of its journey. He (Mr. W.) would nut call it a trick, bat would affix to this pesteeding its true character. by stating it a gross fraud upon the House and the Country. It was tearing up by the rents all those obstacles and guards which the law pf the Coustitution and the usage ofParliement had wisely provided for the purpose of insuring to great measures of policy sound legislative delibe ration. This was a topic upon which lie appealed to the feelings of the House. The Noble Lord has said it ails not for him to decide upon the merits of his proposed clause. It certainly was not ; that pirwer and duty rested with the House of Column's, and in order to exercise that power, sod to perform that duty, an oppodnuity both as to time and .iins should be afforded, before it wa. preci pitately to an expression of its acquies cence. A r e 7i f s e e l ( t l this so serious a part of this pro ceeding. that he did not well know in what mea ner to quit it, in order to follow the Noble Lord io the discussion of the details which he bad, introduced. On some future occasion, pledged himself is bring the gutsiest -blast the House, alien it will be euabled to proceed to a decision with those sources of information, and that time for considering thine, which hare ever been afforded to Parlientent by every previous tits vernintie. The Howse must have in its reeullece tion time t outrusted conduct of the late A.diniuisara tint', when they considered it advisable to insert in the 31utiny Bill certain clause,: affecting the con dition of die Catholic soldier. Every previous no tification was made to Parliament, and, upon con siderable opposition being manifested, the oppoend clauses were withdrawn Irmo that Bill, amid rein troduced in a separate form for Legislative discus sioa. culled upon the 'Noble Lord tii take eximniple by such a precedent, and oat per severe in this act of disgracieg himself, by secretly nuderininiug what he dare not venture openly to attack. Ile felt a difficulty in following the Noble Lord through his speech, arising, in u great degree, from his tfitficulty imi understanding him.— That Noble Lord now overlooked all the iliecon tries, and dangers, and breach of mliacipline, Which he formerly attributed to the mixture 0, 1 : the va rious engagements of service ; and he was now obliged to recommed a measure which cave to the soldier a preference of limited anti unlimited toe, listinent. But there was this difference, that, in Cie former case; the objection was temporary, gad would hale progressircly worn away ; whereas, the evil effects would now be permanent. unless his measure was calculated. and intended to eat away the provisions for limited service. The Nohle Lord has resorted to his old device of comparison by numbers, and has assumed, as a limp, that credit was taken by the authors of the late zystein for an increase to the army which never entered into their contemplation. But what was the actual result of the measures they hail adopted, and the system which was introduced by them? in what manlier did it perforsd its halo nen with respect to the recruiting of the army from the commeneemeat of that system until it was in terrupted by the Noble Lord ? Let it, fur the twelve months it was in operation, be divided into four quarters, and the account will sued thus ; it prodded, in the first quarter, 11,000 men and upwards, in the second quarter 13.000, in the third quarter 21,000, and iu the last quarter 44,000. Here was a strong and touchline argument in proof of the soundness and success of that system, and, indeed it was ludicrous to observe the manner iu which it was an swered by the Noble Lod. or rather the manner in which he attempted to compare with it time sue cess of his own eepediente It certainly brought to the recollection what Gentlemen might have witnessed at those ealiibitioas which so frequently took (dace at awake's, or at 1-bitehes'sv where time Claus in the perfortnance faineitst that his elithimy attempts at Uultatiou of excellenei , entitled him to equal praise. Thus whet!' Ilarlegu;n has com manded the applitnae of the andienee by a great exertion oT agility, in making a sonientet, Mr. Nerremea looked also for apprehatic - ,i. btrairse he made a tumble head ever bree , ll (fowl laughing). So if Mr. Astley. leaning fits band On the pinnate' of his saddle, with the autivey of a wilieed Man- cure lighted upon his chargers Me. ltfeaymen put in hie claim to excellence front eluntitug upon his hack ley the aseistance of theta! (crsAineed lergisies.. Upon die same priesciplk the Noble , Lord put ru his claiin to credit for the success of his measures, as contrasted, with elle system. llot he has forgot ten that our system proceeded ~lone by ordinary recruiting, whilst he as itoleteed to his militia vo lunteering, to leitiallot,. and big Moieties. aud to all those oiler circueustasicosi iocidental to his rite legit expedients. Om, iv/metro gouged no war with Bedlam and the •Mint. It was r war le:twee:l lucerne and 4:spite!, which, though in 'favour of the latter for the two first years, must, in the end, give the victory to the one, to the entire ruin of the other. The Hight Hon. Gentleman proomeded to animadvert on the different resolutioal which had been formerly resented its well by the Noble Lord us by himself, and observed, upon the ection with respect to the number of boys enlist ed under the late system, that the windier Ul4 eat greater than et the precediag period t but he had heard that there now existed a practice in some militia rep.uents of enlisting hops not eh:eve years old, and drawing the whole pity of a MOB far each of theta. lie hail heard that this was the practice in a reeienctit of militia not very far from where he stood. But the Noble Lord mid, that OUT sys tem bud added an expense of 460,0001. ,on ilia establishment of' Chelsea. Wee this for recruit it,? Well the Noble Lord say; that the country was not bound to provide for its worn-out re:e mus in their odd or - Wait prepeet to the al leged influence exerted by the late, Ailtrinistra tion, to au •increased number of recruiting par tial, it was the effect of necessity. It arose out of the formation of the 54 wand battalions, the mea etre el the Admietionition that preceded the last. But evett were the observation correct, and that the distributiou of recruiting parties was with the late Administsie ion amatter of choices and riot of gicessoity, it could vtot.derogate from the saccessful *pas of their system. To think differently, the Noble Lord meat reckon like the children in their school books—if so many mat eau 'work anis a nainber of acres, what quantity of acres will dou ble the needier work ? 4:crudely double. provided the acres were to be had. It was than in recruit ing, unless the men were to be had, there was no advantage to be deriveitfroms an nicreatie of recruit iug parties. It would rather tend to obstruct than to advance the object. becalm itWas not a competition where the price could be railed at pleasure, bat it was an unction • where all bid the same sum:. It eorld not, therefo..e, be con sidered a rivalry, it we. rather. a competition of hiadrauce met obstruction. •It was. rattle sur prising to hear suohen observation front adesiirer of the Addltinnal race Act, which aerated the whole eatetry into recruiting parties, and gave every Parish ()Aker a beating order; beginning from the year l'*Ul, to the lest quarter .when the late tystem was iuteraipted, would be found that • the °Winery reale/ling bed actually been decreas . iing until ;he introduction of the system. when •it begun to increase progressively, each quarter. until the eanclusiat of the year that it was in operation. It daring that period raid") more men than in the cortesposeling periods of the pre .oodieg vat' was done by orilitia/ recruiting and Alle , Asiditiesowl-Folsor Ai*- jerrt Ulrike& The disasters were shoo less in the latter period ; although they were rated us 1 to 5 amongst the men raised sander the Push Bill. Theft was this further proof, that niece tie. Noble Gird. began his tam venlig, the ordinary meantime' hos again iceitively decreased., The liaise thauld send thele'repeitta to a Consenittee for their limitigatien, on which it night ultimately decide, without i'out:- .muting itself on the House and firipitivr f details oldie Noble Lord. Mr. Wiidliera aria Fleeced:Ed to kb able discession of the merits Of. tented. and instanced the operation of the laiiiktitistntinOtir and die Marriage Act, to prove,lhat Biel:mead af an individual, diems to *contact,. was °of, under certain circumstances, hie!. Ile 'spike nearly tun hours aud ' a half fie the very - 6441'm1e points id volved in this question, a brief Attune( of some of"' the most prominent . Weireisely Ale to give. VA. ou the general principle of tbe syStan, he recapitu lated the strong and conclusive strong nta with which he ortioinally introduced his military system' to the consideration of Parliament.. • . General Taattrrer mouldered it ablolately bra pomade to carry on the interests of this important Empire by the scheme of limited service. When he refiecteilopon the state of Europe, ur great aadmpsd coequals of the Refer of, 'niece, it regeindri , bitn of what fell from tete of the moat eloquent Members iu that Atm:it (Mr. Sheridan) ; describing the power of that Ciinquerer, lie skid— .. Sceptres, tipped with coronets, are his paling; does, his Martell° towers are thnitieebiteentietels are sovereigns." This was A dincriptien which meat be admitted, and • which should awake; the consideration of every thereto the situation of our military *system. The threat held out is the Moniirwr, of opposing the Conscripts .of bate to our Militia arid Volunteers. was what could leave no doubt ass to the intention of' FrafgOeio invade tbii country.. Such a fence ks Bonaparte nett had, could • not he kept unemployed, and there was little doubt that he would tale it is un effort to invade this island. It then behoved its to look into the state of our stray. No doubt could be entertained of oar hav ing a force equal to our defence, if properly die posed of. He would have the Militia and Velem tars encamped and regularly exercised. The Metropolis thoold be putt in the best state of do fence. The userseity for the most minute mea sures for our protective was so upparent, that not a lad' of a hackneyeaoehnian's witp should be al lowed to go unnotice4l,-./toad latqlmeg). Passing from this country to Ireleuth he would have the lone employed there divided into faur parts : one pert should be stationed in 'Dublin, and the re meir.iiig three at A 111141114 Mallow, and Should there be a tour with America, 1w would not teconnuend the defence of Canada. All the evils with which Etirlye had been visited within these fifteen years, wat the coneeptences of the lbeveletien in that county-v. To Sweden he wceild send :.0 troops, it gm. hater to subsi dise that l'4lllllity. 11 . , however, it ass thought neve. , say, the Gerinait Uite,' would be the fittest to seal therr—(!ex.:Aiss i.—The great:end leading coiehlegiottem should be the ilefetece of this coun try and lrclaud. It woull as ail a; little to hose "1r clef odd our colonies, If we were vidoeraLle at" house. Military men, it niik. be VA, were'food of wee, hut many of those with wions he "ern:- versed., *iittl NOW bed Otis a great deiii of seer vice, were .int iik love with it-;•-(Mv4hivg ;—' 1... re w ,,, nut a. ripm, • lbe trusted, 'dot *Dula i:ot tarlitl• ,em his lifaliian his liberty, aild,ttiat .s% 0.11.1 nof molt, cheerfully stiffer every privation in delerice of t..e .. coontry.—lie concluded by expressieg, his mpFris. batioa of the*. Clause. The geese-rime at WAR was net sorry nii giv ing precedence to the gallant General. The sear nients that fell from him were just and correct, and he fully concurred in them. It was not his in tention to follow the Right Honourable Gentle lean ibir. Windham} through the keg speech deo' livered by hive, which was as usual characterised b 7 brilliaucv and elospience. The Ilight Hou. Gentleman 'has dwelt at consirlerelle length on the shortness of the notice given, mid on the mode . of proceeding adopted; but when it itai.. :moldered • that this subject had been frequently before ' debated, and had excited clinch of the public attention, he trusted the House would feel that the notice given, whicfl 'was uPwarde of a ire*, would be deemed reasonable. U ith respect A the clause proposed-to be introduced into this Rill by his Noble Friend, he conceived that thee Hee, Genttemais had in his observations usiitaltd bias. The principle of the amendment erupt° siteiedy it very serious inasnvenieoce, which would eripOrese the army being deprived of a great Humber stem% who, hstl•they the option pitword, wateifisseekstew • iik it. lie ismteudell, that this would restedy the evil to be apprehend ip uleterollv a without its adop to the puhlic eureka, which * wouldtive,. the months . of * Jan ' and' Feb nary, when tide measures of the Right Ilan. Gentleuvue werw.iit full operatiwii, these vies no suchincresuo se and it was i . fict, that is the months of Jitt li tt July of the reinf yAke'„fhe numbers eoniiderablY decreased. Junginglky this, and b,y ir.Veridoce , -we had no reason to seeped that' ttris Mesons would be wredsantigeons es eupplined. ' Mr. Wieont le explained, and coutended;tbat a clause. which would go to the inglerakims of 'p ieta which hod been tried and applutreftg aass which bed met Legiebitive sanction , shaksld sot b 6 introduced in the illaßßil“ it WIG: ~ ... Lof , il CAOTLIALRAbIa and ' the SECaS* h *Y at Was eeplained. . : . A division then took place when t ' . • for. the clause piopose t . . . Ayes NunfM - HOn spar retr itY sainion into tba rolloejr we . 112.01 Laid lisoar PETTY and the Cusicsu.on a Ibis Examen se in coutemsdemot to the time the th. port 11603114 be received. Lord Folk/door, Sir Sohn .Nenport. _Pro wetry, end Mr. Sherideu, awned win* int Mod received ti -morrow. Sieeridan veered ills posh posienient Nail Monday next. The chiscaw 4 the Exchequer objected, mud after spot foams couternation between him, Lord Henry.Piatjr, Mr. Sheridan; the motion of the letter um *kip drawn. The Reuse then manned, and the. sapsirt lorm ordered to htreceived on y it hi ptier . • - Parielirriteted uouraide Siscretaryhad received any semi subsidiary treaty with Sweden? . • Mr. Secreting CW4141010 ansiterni, that It holt been received on Saturday, sod that he hoped to be able to lay it before the House to-morrow. The Order of the Day was' thee seed .sin the . Hoskie resolving itself into a Committee on the Manse 'Mutiny BilL hir g; ,WHITIIitICAIS trusted from the lateness of iht fir th ere world le no objection to the poet. peneaient of the consideration of this Vre'Cisitscat.ton of the ,Extuaitimit had De . objcetion e ,. It was accordingly postponed until Imurepeers Orders of the Oar were dream?. Q t' .seal adjuurileil at, (1,474PA0T T.Vi 4' THE BRITISH PRES: 'LONDON, WEDNESDAY,. MAP:L*9. The House of Commons continues to displey o powerful Opposition to the dirided lust night io4 against 169. • To a question, last night, - ip dm House of Com mons, from Mr. Poosoltairt C.systlSG an swered, that he had reeeitfed the Subsidiary Treaty. with Sweden, on Saturday, and Would, if possible, lay it itirou the Table this eay. . _ . • Thirty more transports were taken lip yesterday for the Expedition to Sweden. muse of this week, the uninber will amount to 300. The military force will sativant to 10,000 men. Another Espeditiotiof 12.090 is inertione4; in three months every reMineut of the hue iu the kitiatloat will be ou service. We harireceirsid a farther set of Mitch papers to the Ist instant, sad of liamburgh to the shah list. We hare onty roam to notice their contents briefly. The are between Russia and the Porte will expire in the end of April. sod great preparatiosts %ye making by the latter.— It is said that she he assembling too armies of 159. 000 gads mid 'accenting to a letter from Vienna, that she MC-tines to the side of Eng land. The French armies and Genenils are in j motion for the Santis. Sixty thousand of the anticipated Coi...cript3e , foe the rear ISO 9, ;) ere tnba iyanntl.. ituly plated nit service, and t:WOJ left as • re.erre fur uevt An uttessmt is to It- brim.. livtely imigle to dispossess ; fi- 17.7%1411 41 . FOS% Se:y 11*, on the matt of Naples, a