The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1806-04-04 00:00:00

r I` 77- lkight Hot. Gentleman lead taken a eonrse shove most easy to be personal's he had found fenit with every tl.ing. He wished to - germ , how the Riebt Hon, Genii• men wrioislbe able to edited his scattered tra 'a ad embody them with the army 1 Bat when he seouldeateieute his mind from the le oohedh in which it was now ht, ire con ce; ved he amide be aware that they would not be e- st.ffi.ient for the defence of I onilon. life sole ob ;,' pea or the Rigat H. 41. G-Ittlemal was to .get rid of the Vaiumeets ; and, to obtain this end, he had, on all caaions, used his utmest endeavours. He • r• enenfo led to have heard hies say, at one time, that these men, speaking of the Volunteers, might look Very w. li, and very like soldiers, but they had not been yet tried in a scarcity, or a contested election. ...tent of the present motion was to obtain this *Meet in al; undetigand manner. Ile therefore ea sled upon the House, if the Volunteer.; were to be ' its existence, not tto ',tunic them to be an in pair d Aed mutilated hasty. It would be muds more ge;teroas, and more Mll?, for the Itt. Hon. Gentle ; in in to come f o rward, and dismiss them at once, 'and let the Hosea. thank them lot their services, and trli than, that in the sysi ten about to he adopted, the ceantry no longer required their services. In this n:ann, r, the Volunteers would retire content ed. out he did not think the! should he treated in s e e- maoner proposed by the Righ , Hon. Gentleman. Alter some mentos- vossetvatious on this, he ,aid, that the *my. -in its present state, ri quired nothing but the les "ring hand et Government to make it pvfeet. 'lke Noble Lord then related certain Ate . ;ethnic, w!•h he said Isis Iti4ht Hon. Friend had in 'orotund uson, and, had he lived, would have ere , • eaten. I h. then statei, with pearlier empheis, that no Geyer:intent was ever banded over to a new . Adminisoetion, so proud, and in suth high condi tion (.owl net of Ara./ kneel) no•Atintinistration ever suceet.ded such a bed of reset, as the present. l'oe late Government had made it an easy task- to thing forward the Budget.— . ;V..: don. G.otiemen, at the head of the Admi tatty. h•: was sate would we say they had succeed ed to a ..blemeated navy, arid :le trusted he would • .y ahle to convince the Heuse, that they had suc . cisidesl to an sens y which wee einal to the wishes of . ajaa ntootoi I a ens all he had to Say was, that he loped tiles w soli ahvain ,rows doing mischief ; but, if eta Lee '3airriini.ination lia , l remained in office a allot stases loaner. they would have sheen the s eamier) whet this army could do. The Noble Lord essaellided by saying, that it was not his intention to appse the present Willem , • Mr. iCIX ap ..lee with great arimation, nearly to • in s t. Jeeesnp e ffee—o Sir, my naves nor my feel . jags **eh not allow me to hear such language, and sit silent. ...The Noble Lord says, that •he and his col leeguethave left the country 0f... state of weai perity. In what, Sir, dines CPS great prosperity • coneiet 1 Lin us berm- with the Navy ; and, I ad roe, that so far the task of my Noble Friend, near me ( : ir. Grey, new Yiseeunt Howick), is compa pine: ,s easy. • I admit, we have been lift a supply Ot orase Roam, anti gitient and experienced offi ca. efirahlet me 1.4 to whom we'ate indebted for the oonoteig state of the Navy. We cannot say that atl the merit of ad the naval sridthries, of the lan eirt.teen tn. tolls, is due to the late Ministry, whetters, know their c..ndis'd to Earl St. Vincent, ea.: recollect diet they were as strongly prejudiced against him at they possibly c uld be. But the Newt is the only point in which the Noble Lord (Castlereagh; Avid 1 can agree. NOW for those in wthichwe differ. In the financial department, he says, my ~ n •hh• kriend (Lord leery Petty) has had an easy task; so. est.•ause the preceding Ministry have bur keened the people with taxes to the amount of 43.0.0.0001. a year, which makes it necessary fie my *big Friend to lay on heavy tasi s within the ,gene, ri prevent the farther increase of the national • debt, he is, therefore, to be represented as succeeding feran easy task 1 this is a node of argument which I st riot well understand. But, where else is our teak easy ? 'Fite N stale Lord (Castlereagh) is ac q -owed with the affairs of Ireland. Is that coun ts. m a prosperous state? or India, with which the Noble Lord is also koqttainted, is that in a pros perous stet..? Sir, f :nu tot speaking of the merits er demerits of any than, or set of men. Into a dis c lesion ef that sort I have no wish to enter. I only want to kit • w where is toi. bcJ of roses, to which we art tol I we nave succeeded. What, when I am torn with brambles and stung with nettles, to come and fo tell m. that I am -Toe a bed el roses, is a raisery and der ;i that no feelings can endure. The Noble Lord (Castlerea!h) has said, that the late Ministry have left the country in the greaten prosteetl.y, to which, under all the circumstances of the times, they conli possibly carry it. I have already noticed the state of its finances. Now, Sir, I come to my own effice. I he Noble Lord ad mits. ia tbes wind.; of one of his former colleegues (Lord.!lewkelforry), that t ie affairs of the 'onti nee( are nut in a vcty certain-table situation (a lasqb/ ; and here, Sit, I would ask the Noble Lo d, two questions. fees tle• Noble Lord see any p.- mect in a sate and heeourable peace? or a very great proliabitity of our being able, by a pi• -e • ion r I the was, to command a sate at..! 1;..•,045,61a peace, ere , prevent the farther ex , tension of the enemy's force? With reps* to the enteno.. et th• last campaign. I do nut mean to enter int* them minutely I will not discuss whether they ate owing to our ohm mi management, or to the luel.city and misconduet of rue allies; but this . 1 bents,. that to whatever cause they are to he immted, they do not hitherto appear very fa voinAbhe in this country. Perhaps, like the Pa. r,sh Bill, t..ey en.) , yet produce gond efftels, of which we havi as vet no idea; but certain it is, that an far as their effeßs have been ascertained tt , es , s•-• not favourable. Have the publications lard helium the House by the Noble Lord (the co purl of at treatise? with our Allies) done soy thing fm• us ? the Noble Lied come to my Office/ I Warr, , ; !•I•%S. him the heaps of coreplamts, which r AV!! r-ceived from Foreign Ministers upon - this subjel. But Co. Noble Lord will rot come to moat toilet He has • great aversion to office. And bete, Sir, I mutt observe, that he has said something ree rtillisely irttfr rper, but, I say, criminal. He says Obi army is to anen a state as to afford a force ap tofneei reterperse, and that, had the late sn es . a s e y iitioited in Dowell they had a inan sgaast 50.:,: 0f the 'rid-ie.-able pasts of' the enemy's ussianiu us, in the executioner* *Web. that disposable force would hare been, before this time, employed. Now, Sir, if the Noble Lord had thrown this out as merely a specidative matter, I should not think it of much importance. I should only consider him as taking credit for a merit to which, perhaps, he.and his colleagues were net entitled. But he does not. put it in that way. He has stated positively, that they had a specific plan of an enterprisie against same one of the vulnerable points of the enemy, which would have been ailed upon before this time. I say then, that if they had any such plan, they should have communicated it to us ; and that, in not doing so, they have ailed criminally.— I know, when I formerly left office, I attest so to wards my successors ; and I do assert, that I have found no trace of any such plan itt my office. It seems, however, to be the am:sition of the Noble Lord and his colleagues, to leave things as they are, and not to tell us those s " slncrable points of the enemy, which they have discovered. But I do not think that we lose much by our ignorance ; for if, during the whole of the last war, with the army in the prosperous state they boast, they could send out 0. , 1y two expeditions, and these to distant points, and in such. weakness that they were obliged to return without effeaing any thing, being found inadequate to the purpose for which they were sent out, 130 not thick that we lose much by the concealment of such projeas. But whatever the Noble Lord may say upon the subjeift, I do think that the public must in can dour confess, that we have come into office in a si tuation of the country not the most flourishing, and under circumstances more discouraging than any Administration ever was undertaken. The Noble Lord has talked much of complication. His mind is so simple, he can see nothing in a relative point of view, and can only embrace a single objet. He says. our army is larger now than ever it was. Supposing my Noble Friend near me (Lord Henry Petty) were to boast the largeness of our revenue, would the weight of our taxes be a proof of our prospe rity ? The greatness or smallness of our army is only to be estimated in relation to the strength of the enemy. It is not to be compared with its state in.any preceding year, with what it was in the reign of Queen Anne, or at any other period. But, be fore I dismiss this part of the question, I affe, - •was the state of the country • much improved from May 1804 to February lea6t And did .slestMe crease of our army, embittering what took *mu upon the Continent during that inteavali, amok* us stronger ? This is the true way to esti.' mate the strength of our army. It should be measured by the enemy, alai not in .com parison with itself at any former year. With respect to the particular points in debate, I shall not enter itsto detail ; of. the Defence Bill I cannot express - my disapprobation in stronger terms than those of the Noble Lord s who admits, that in three fourths of the country it has not been carried Mtn execution. The Noble... Lord, it is true, attributes this to the ignorance of the people respeding the bounties which it holds out, and its other objeass• For my part, I cannot admit this sort of defence. I believe that every means have been taken to give it publicity in every part of the country.— I Imbw that the part of the country where I reside is not more than four miles distant from the seat of the Commander-in-Chief, and that the people there cannot plead ignorance, and yet not one mats has been produced there by the Bill to this very day. When I add to this, Lord Hawke:- bury's letter, stating that there are twenty counties in which it never has been enforced, surely I cannot want any farther proo: of its being a bad measure. Upon die subjea of enlisting into the army for a limited time, the Noble Lord says, that a Right Hon. Gentleman, to whom he has frequently al luded this night (Nlr. l'itt), once entertained the idea, but rejcaed it upon mature deliberation. The Noble Lord must be more competent to speak of the sentiments of that Right Hon. Gent. than we, who had not the same opportunity of knowing them. We read in history, that Mark Antony pretended to interpret Julius Casar's will; but in doing ao, he contrived to make it answer his own purpose, and is not supposed to have adhered very accurately to the truth. My Hight Honourable Friend - (\lr: Windham) proposes an ameliorated situation of the army, as an encouragement to recruiting. It was in that way he put it. But upon this, the No ble Lord goes to his old system of " two strings to his bow " Indeed I believe he has three or four strings. He says, in the first place, that it is im proper, as the distinction will produce mutiny ; secondly. that justice requires that there should be no distinction between the men already in service, and those to be hereafter raised ; and here he turns to the other side of the question, and admit', that the soldiers, under the present system, have already sufficient encouragement and indulgence, so that his answer refutes his own objeaion, while it is no an swer to the statement of my Friend ; for, if the old soldiers are so wed taken care of, there will be the less cause for jealousy ; and if the present encou ragemen• to recruiting has operated so successfully, a greater degree of encouragement must produce still more beneficial &Teets." The Rt. Hon. Member then proceeded to answer the other objeelion of Lord Castlereagh to Mr. Windliem's plan. He contended, that limited service was the pradlice in Prussia and in Germany ; that it was adopted in our Indian army, and in the foreign corp. in our service, and there fore ought not to be considered as a mere theory, though not generally and specifically praaised in this country. 11e charged the Noble Lord with hav ing so often misrepresented the words of his Right Hots. Friend, that he now remembered only iris own rnisrepri sentations, and had totally forgotten what Mr. Windham had really said. Mr. Wiodh%m, it was true, originally disapproved of the Volunteer System, but there was a great deal of difT.-rence be tween disapproving of a thing before it was in existence, and destroying it altogether, now that it is established, and of some use. The Nolte Lord had disapproved of the part of the plan which relaxed the discipline of the Vo lunteers, hut, at the same time, he contradided him'elf by observing, that they had attained such perfeauvi in discipline, such frequent a•tendance might be dispensed with. He also charged his night I lon. Friend with being in a labytiiiili ; but for riffs part he never heard a more eloquea and per spirtsellt statement. But if it were a labyrinth, and the Noble Lord's speech was a stair one, then he must confess he had lost all powers of pei caption: Hit Right Hoa. Friend propdsed only two daises of Volunteers, the poor and th. ; hatith e Noble Lord will not allow this distindion. lie would have the poor to pay, in order that the rich might continue to receive their allowances. Such a doctrine was not natural to an L , glish breast, and they were pretty friends to the Volunteers who sup ported it. The lower class of Volunteers also con sisted of tradesmen, who, by his Rt. Hon. Friend's plan:would be trained at home ; whereas by the s; stem which it would supersede, they are now liable to be sent to any part of the kingdom, and to be consolidated in regular corps with a . description of men whom they consider their inferiors. These trained bands, as the Noble Lord called them,were not to be brought out at once to at against the enemy. But they would be thus placed its an improved state of discipline, which would make them, in case of invasion, excellent recruits for the regular army ; and besides, in case of an enemy landing of nearly equal force with our regular army, an armed population, constantly harrassing them, must turn the scale. Having en forced these points with great strength, Mr. Fox continued—" The Noble lord asks, will these trained bands stop the enemy at Canterbury ? Will they defend Lnnden ?—No, I do not say they will ; and here I must condemn that sentiment, which I can never hear without supposing it conneOed with want of courage in the breast that entertains it ; I mean that sentiment which considers the landing of an enemy, and a first success, decisive of the' fate of the country. lam sanguine that no land ing will be effeted ; but if there should, it is not one advantage gained by them that would ensure their ultimate success. We must fight every inch of ground. It is not one battle lost that will decide the fate of the country , as the battle of Aus terlitz decided the fate of Austria. 1 hope, Sir, a very different spirit prevails in England from that which is felt upon the Continent. From the scanda lous prae'tice of transferring territories from one Sovereign to another, and other causes, the affedion that ought to subsist between the Sovereign and the subject is weakened, and nations easily yield themselves up to a new master ; but here these , • changes are unknown, and regarded with horror; besides, there is a spirit in the people, an attachment 1.10. the Constitution, and the country, which could ,Meld to no danger or diffizulties. In the event of a lint& lost, we are to consider that there are hue-. dreds of thousands of British hearts behind us in.the country, ready to repair the losses of the defeated force, or form new armies to meet the foe.— The Volunteers, it is true, may be adequate to this purpose; but there is, I think, some difference be , tmeen adding trained men as recruits to old corps, and putting volunteer and reguier'corps to ad to gether. I approved always of the le,e-woisasise, bit I approve still more of my Right Honourable Friend's plan, and am, perhaps, more sanguine its my ezpedations of its success than he is. It will • not only improve the condition of the army, -but it will suspend all competition in recruiting for .the regular force, and leave the army the only custemer in the recruiting market. It is true, the Noble Lord says, the more bidders the better; but this ap pears to me absolute nonsense. He also asks, how far a e mean to tatted the regular army ? and 25,000 additional Men are stated as the probable number. But why does not the Noble tell us something of this bed of ruses upon which we have got ? Except the alliance of Russia, which is certainly valuable, but the advantage* of which, conflated with our home defence, are reduced to nothing by its distance, we have not one power fighting, or likely to fight for us, in Europe, not one ! When this is the case, it must be wise to increase the army. I am sure, for my pact, I should wish to increase it to a very great extent, perhaps, a greater than we are able to accomplish. I have no hesitation in saying, that the circum stances which have lately taken place in Europe, have weaned-me from an opinion that 1 formerly entertained, that in peace we should be able to dis pense with a great army. if peace cannot he ob taMed, and the war cannot be carried on with suc cess, so as to restrain the growing strength of the enemy, the country roust come to a dreadful op tion. It must revert to its original state, it must be completely insular, and you must be, as the Poet describes you, Peoitus tato divigns °doe lifitannos.' and devoted entirely to your internal defence and safety, cease to have any conneflion with the Con tinent of Europe; or you must come to this other up-hill game, you most go on fighting; a game the most riainful,that ever man ondertook,and that ques tion must decide the extent and state . of 'the army. In the case of our having the aid of allies:and cons tinental connelions, in this contest, we Isiii.'exPe rience to thew, that we must have a British'Mny at home, competent to our internal defence ; and an other disposable for foreign enterprises. Its looking, however, to home defence, we must not be so panic ' struck as to be palsied in our exertions.' It is not 1 thus our enemy conduastimself. It is not in guard = ing his vulnerable points, but by increlsin his means and his strength, that he renders hims elf fofrnida ble. We should pursue the same course. With respell to oar means, I will only say, that if the affeaions of Ireland be properly cultivated, there is a fund of security in its population of brave men, that no Sovereign in the world possesses in any country of the same number of acres." Lord CAS FLERAGiI (in explanation) said, he only meant, that if the late administration had re. moined in office, some plan of enterprise against some vulnerable point of the enemy, would be in progress of execution before this time. Mr. YORKE commenced by declaring, that it was not his intention at present to oppose the au tion of the Right Hon. Gentleman. He only wished to make a few observations; and having first entered into a defence.of the condua of Mr. Pitt,'on account of whose abilities he conceived the country was in its present flourishing state, he said that the difference between the military service of this country and any other in time of pew, was the necessity of keeping an army of 50 or 60,000 men, for our colonies, which was one-third of our whole army. With respea to the measure of enlisting for. a space of seven years, it was well known from the experience] already had in the militia, that men, when once discharged, were not so anxious to re enlist. He, however, felt great satisfwaion in the proposed regulation for bettering the condition of the soldier, and for increasing Chelsea College ; he A 7-7 71 7: :~ vansiderei it a very liberal and latid.thle improve• ment in that system, but it mighijust as well be applied to the army as it now stands. The Chelsea Pensineers may be encreasei, the young soldier may be rewarded, and all can be dente without altering the present system. He wished the training and exercising should be cviried to the utmost extent ; but. with respect to past measures, he said, be should violate hi► own principles, if he did not cast ianblision what is passed, as he had no antipathy to any man upon earth except Bonapaite, If able Generals were appointed over the Vnlun veers, they would be as efficient to do garrison duty as well as any other troops in the world ; and as to the rank given to Volunteers, the Right Hen. Gen tleman (Mr. Windham) • was Secretary at War at the time, and it was incumbent on him to stand up in his place, and resift such a proceeding, t but if was under the authority of that Gentleman those regulations were adapted. Mr. Secretary FOX shortly explained. . Sir JAMES PULTENEY , shortly mentioned the heads of objections, -winch he shopld take to the measure, in its fut.,. • progress ; he considered there would be adcon:iderabie doninus fion in. the military force; by this srtens, the on substitute in place of the Additional Force Act, being an enlistment fora limited term t the soldier would not be animated by the um* courage, the Some love of gtury, as be who is enlisted 6e aa unlimited term; in the one can, a mait's anxiety is perhaps raised in anxiety, to return to his family, and he could not hat. the same courage and intrepidity in meet death and danger, as the man whose duty is !Alain. He adverted to lire regulation an Hanover and Austria, and *Wheel ee know, e in Austria or Russia this was the vines; or if the Franck Consul met mdsd a right to discharge the arms after a limited term. He highly ',unwed of the Levy en Muse, but can. sidcred an armed peasantry neither fit to oppose. or even bar. test an invading army. General TAR LETON declared, he should enter a protot against mit mode of reel citing the army, as it would ultimately lead to a diminution of it. Mr. C. WYNNE observed, that all the men raised wider that Act, in the county of Lancaster, as alluded to by the Hon noorable Gentleman, were raised by crimps. Air * few observations from Mr. LANGMEAD, in levees • of the measure, Lord TEMPLE rose to call on the'Hetiourablo Otetleeito • (Geatral Tsrleton), who, he still, had stated, that the Lard Lieutenants el some Counties had emleaseured to thwart that measure, to bring forward his charges upon that ening and ~ prove the fact, which, if he did cot du, the Noble Lord 'meld le-I hiessalf justified in saying, that ha had au grounds for so fai•e a charge. General fARLETON explained, that it wet soft* Meow hers ei that House, and a the Home of Peers, he alluded •te e but not th, Lord Lieutenants of Counties. Cul , nsel CRAWFURI), in giving his cordial mewl to the measure adverted to the Trench army under hisishal Saxe, and the Prii.siair min! under Frederic the Great, which ihrre the finest armies.of weir day ; hot the.iiiim were nit toly Attached to their *heirs, being only enlisted fur a lipid period. -e Sir Jamei Polteowr explained; and Mr. Charles Dundee, Sir Wm. Young, Colonel Graham, ses.vally spoke in Never • of the sties/ore; the latter tendematt euttakl.ieJ the ltdhteeest" for a !Ignited nine 111011;11 be a grat ilJdUielbenttc meel .volulitrea. Mr. I baddlestem mat.: a few obstleeatirms, ,, l the mu! side. The original question for the repeal of the Helene). Act ma Chen p tit; end carried without. dishiest. • Lotd TEMPLE again challenged (Unreel T..tleton to bring fist srsrl hot Charges against the Lord tenements fur thwarting. the operation of, the Pangs Pau. Genetal TARLETON replied, that the papers on the able, . 'whim printed, would fut 4 preen the fat. ' Mr tecielsry VOX gave notice, that on Tuesday senniebt he would move .fier the bltellika4eol el the alma et Wave let,' at the Boy of the t)ouse. Mr. LE& answered, that the Right Hie. Seer tary wou'd End, froth the Irish Atli of Parlitiewsid, the Sic. if was justiball in tior making his return soonen, flea - louts then adJoatted at'TWO-O'CLOCK, till Mess day se'onight, the 14th inseam. MK ICE OF •STOCKS. U.S rt.: aon T . 3. re,. Ce,A-1 - .7uc.!s Lottery Ticket, . 19(. 116. • .. THE BRITISH PRESS. FRIDAY, APRIL 4. Mr. Wixom A m laid his new Military Plan, last night, before the (louse of Commons. It embraced three heads, the Army, the Volunteers, and the Militia. It proposes to ameliorate the state of the Regular Army, to an extent that may induce the lower orders to enter into that mode of life, to which they are now tempted only by excessive bounties. For this purpose, it proposes an increase of pay. limitation of service. and that discipline dial/ be preserved, mere by rewards, than punishments. With respell to the Volunteers, he is anxious to bring them to that state in which there shall be re corps but such as clothe, arm, and maintais then selves, at their own expence ; and, lir this purpow, the plan proposes to make a reduction in the present allowances by Government, of between 7 and 800,0001. a-year. The rest of the population of ti the country, he proposes should be trained to the use of arms, bet in a loose and not embodied state. In the Militia System, the plan makes littl.. ,'- teration. It only proposes to substitute recruitiii4 with a small bounty, for the present mode of ra s ing men by ballot ; and recommends that the (wit Militia should be permitted to volunteer, generally , into the line. The regulations respelling the Volunteer Sys:tin are not to exten:l to Ireland ; and the allowance Ix clothing is to be granted to the Volunteers, for thi , once, but they are not to expel that it will be granted a second time. Mr. WINDHAM occupied nearly four hours stating his plan, lie performed his task with Frei' ability, and was heard with great attention loy t l,ll Mouse, which was crowded to excess. - - Mr. GLORGE JacKsni With dispatches corn Berlin, Arrived at nine o'clock yesterday moratagi at Mr. Foa's Office in Uowning•street. LONDON =Pnnt J hf I. DAVIDSON, No. 17, Covent•Ga..4en, and PmOkah...ei at t; Otfico, No 5, Rack of Y+.Clelsoint's Chart". fitt" ' N 7 W. STUCK, of No 7, Nur Settou•sufet, Loot A 7 Radon, &c. for IN., Pa I/R I, oast to the . # 0 . 4 1” arallloo bey .:s• .NN ~v ~. ~ tit MN GR! Mal Apri . 11 Ni 1 8Y A 0 s. betni - Weld .anvi T. el di el SAM, Ci R 0 1 0 No. 2. for UI know! of Bo 111 , bolt from s liable of pre Mr. issoy t gui Dr pR Ti - - tiesuL, Pearl mitt to and 101 Vendee the Gd of the other ia ISI4 tifflel .1a Royal I contins Clock Mr. I bitten, et the fi East. to n. 161 dmcnoti amt pI4 Every ? Ur; ti tasted a elegant Setae Otitis A the app and 'urea Third a BOy , er Wri6 Maven. voanievi vastly a h 'PP) a , Foa.tt N• 4111— • w.er reH ht It corn; • • .7 •11 A tult M ' , urn. • 4 nka