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

-- .1.. - CT • br Iritiob Vl° riCoG J mBE.:( 1013 IMPLItLit. P.JRLIAMLIVT. HOU6F OF COMMONS —Tusintiorav, April 3. Mr. John La Totiehe presented a Tetitinn from the Grocers of Dublin, pray r-hef rgainst any additional Dunes upon Spirituous Liquor., %V uths,and Sugars —Ordered to ior en the tab'e. Mr Johnson, from the Chief Secretary of State's Office in /island, presented at the bar of the Hoose, a return of the rioin d iher of Writs from the Court of Excheq uer i n Ire , during a specific period Mr. Hutton also presented several accounts from the Navy ray-Office, which were severally ordered to lie on the tahie. The Attomes-General brought in a Bill for the prevention V tie Importation of %laves into certain British Culuisies in Amens, lab ni during the war; which wan read a first time, and ordered to be read a second time en Monday the 14th Instant. The SECRETARY at WAR brought on several papers and Army Estimates; which be observed did not make any pan of the toot Militate settee. loteoded ; and wined " ti n t they should be whom into emi.ideration on Monday se'rinight." Mr Wilberforce breught in a Bill to enable the Justices of Yorkshire to bond convenient Court-houses for the accummo dation of th • Jude,. Read a first time, and ordered to be read a second time on Monday se'rinight. Callow& Hutchinson brought in a Bill for the ereßion of a Gaol ha the City of Cork, ia Ireland, which was read a firat time, arid ordered to lir read -a second time on Monday seonight. Ow Ma Motion of Sir JOHN NEWPORT, the second read ing of tee Bill, for dividrog the Parishes of St Gerrit and it. Tivonas in Dublin, was the.tprined till Monday seottight. Mr Nettleship, from the C imparts , of Grocers, presented at the Bar an Account of the average prig. of Muscovado Su7ar, sachet's of MCP, for &specific tune.-sotNtlered to li e oar th e hblo. Mr Vansqtart broitght up an Ardent, relating to the 'wrack thwart:tient, pursuant to order.—Ordered to lie on the table.. - The Irish First Fruit'. Bill was read a th.rd tints and passed. Mr FOS fER nt.Ared for curtain Arcoinits to be laid before the House, of the Duties payable nu certain species of Linens, in Ireland. Mr.Vansittart brought up the Second Report from the Com missioners for irsvostigating the Civil Affairs of the Navy, which was ordered to be printed. Also, the Bill for additional Duties upon Goods, carried, Contways. Ala', the born Ditty Bill; wh ch were si-verillv read a Sort toe, and ordered to be read a second ti.ne, on Monday se'n• night. Mr PERCIVAL gave notice, that on the second day after the FAlner ;trice..., lie would more F n leaven.) bring in a Sill, fa improving tire condition of the StmeudiaryCurates of Great Britain. Sir J. Duckworth's Annuity Bill was ordered to be cona. mined nn Muolly sennight. The Bill fur the Regulation of the Office of Treasurer of the Ordnance, was read a third time and passed. The Property Dam Bill went through a Commirtee,and was crdentd d be taken into further consideration on Msuday, the Slid. test. and the WU, with Amendments, urdrred to be prii.ted. lysethe rng % m ight up the several Reoorti or the Com mittees of Ways and Mean., Supply, and Loan The Reso lutiees were severally read and agreed to, and Bills ordered to be prepared paiesuant thetas. R.efa.ttc reumog ram tdisersied.that he tiw , intend ed to put °Whit !Stollen fir certam India Payers, bur since un dknitending, that no discussion would take place on that sub kc'. he Wen moved, E. That these he laid before the House, a Copy or a Lettirr frees Sir G. Barlow to Gemini bird Lake, dated 90Th Oct. 1605, in answer via aspatela from Lord Lake to Marquis Cornwallis, of the 6th Oct. in the Mine year i nk:ids was ordered accordingly. Mr. Hawth nil? brought up the Report of the Cemmitt4s on the Esenaption of certain Duties as, Dwelling Houses w Ire• hind; and en Mullen of Mr. FOSTER, the further consider anon of this sotret was postponed until Sloriday se'n night The R-port of the c iinesittee on the Innis Heartti.inoney 11:ll was also postponed MI the same day. Lewd HENRY PETTY motet ss that at the risi.ig of the Tinos% to. House abould be adjourned until Wanda, se es iti,eht."—Oidered Mr. Seely, fro.n the Navy Pay Office, presented several ac mom., ptm•anr ti cirri Mi tiuDDLv.srox pc *soled his motiso, w'rich stood for the day, relating to lirdia Papers, until after the recess. Mr.. ROSE, after a few prisitminary observations, postponed his moms rotative to t! , e &aspen...cm in the Navigation Laws itl the \V.•at ',dies, until Tooraday sennight. TEMPLE ob.-royal, 'hat it was the intenti-n of the B n d to which he had the honour tobelong, to opera the ports ollthe West Lithe Islands to armseral trade, under certain re. stiaions. Si 7 JOHN NEWPORT at mei for learnt so bring ins OM to regulate the pecking of butter in Indand.-Leaes given. THE NEW MILITARY SYSTEM. Mr. WINDHAM then rose, and addressed the Hone to the following effect Sir, after an in terruption, proceeding from a circumstance which mast be very generally regretted. and many un availing solicitations from some Gentlemen oppo site to me, I rile, at length, to call the attention of tie House to the application of those principles, which s from having so often taken occasion to state ea them. they may naturally suppose that, when I came into office, I should be anxious to ratty int 3 effea ; that gentlemen should be natu rally led is draw that conclusion I can easily ac csunt for ; but if the expeaation be enter tamed, that I should propose to reverse the game tal plan of military measures so long adopted in the country, I have only to observe. that such an expeaati.iii is not founded in any thing that I bare ever taken the liherry of submitting to the House, nor even in the nature of the thing itself. The great defea which I found in the arrangements il'therzo made. was, that they seemed to be only aJapscd to the necessities of the moment; bit, in a measure vrl ich is calculated for the permanent an.liiary improvement of the country, the greatest care and caution is required. and time must be taken 4 for due d.lih:ration. I certair4 did state very wrong objeaions to the system heretofore pursued. but I never said it was so bad. that every part of it most be reversed. Those gentlemen who seemed to anticipate a general overthrow of every thing that has been heretof,te established, must subjea them selves to the fair inference, that they were ail uated by a consciousness of every thing being so bad, that they mast be altered. 1 kat sentiment they never hard from me ; for I never thought things in such a Rate, that they were incapable of being rerseshed. az i 1 true. that every change from good to bad sh slid always be as little delayed as possible : but an aff.ir of such magnitude, and calctilated (or essential and permanent purposes, all rational men R iLl are*, that a little delay is much preferable to abf &tree of precipitation. As I before o'neeved, 'he impAcience eapreued f:.: bringing forward this FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 1806. ' measure, must admit the inference, or at least strongly the consciousue.s, that a great change was necessar y ; and its imp mince certainly will not be diminished, when we look to the present stare of Europe and the world. as well as the relative situa tion of our own country. There is, I understand, amongst military men, a phrase called ff chibenie the datteliom," which means, throwing it into such a state of confusion, that a General Officer world be very much embarrassed by attempting to restore the men again to regular order. The Gentlemen oppo site to me appear to have aided on this principle.— They have completely clubbed the battalion— they have thrown every thing into disorder and con fusion, and now, methinks, I see them rubbing their hands, and grinning for j..y, at the bard and difficult task which they exultingly think they have imposed upon their successors. That is the task, Sir, which now devolves tome ; bat. in endeavouring to exe cute it, I mean not to demclish, but to repair the mi litary vehicle, and to place it in a state of perma nent security.--I say, permanent security, bicause I do not think it sufficient to follow the old plan. My objeft is not merely to get rid of the present danger, great and perilous as it may be, and trust to futu rity for such ulterior measures as the occasion may require. Such temporary expedients suit not the time in which we live, nor the circumstances in which we are placed. The first objeCt then to be considered, with this view, is the creation of an army, and that army, to make it efficient, should, according wilily conception, be regulated by distinct and particular rules. entirely detached from every other profession, and having no trade, no duty, but war, to which it is to be woolly and exclusively de voted. I do not assert, that this country has not unops of that description, but what I complain of is, that they are but a comparatively small propor tion of our military system. We have, indeed, long. professed to have the interest of the army at heart ; but I apprehend, these professions did not tarn out to be sincere. The House, it it true, has toiled for year. at this objea, but has, I fear, toiled is vain ; as all its measures have Joon...little er no good for the real interests of the army. .Slne half. at least, of our measures, went no tartlet- than merely to provide substitutes for an army. Our militia laws, our volunteer system, our I.lresemeer. and defence bills, afforded us only the specious calculations of having 900,000 men in arms; bat surely no man will so far deceive himself, as to think that they have the character or the efficiency of an army. It any man delude himself with such an opinion, he only entertains the puerile notions of a child, oho puts a Ire slick in the ground, aad thinks he has planted a 04.! - An army. without true discipliue, is almost as great a solecism to language, as is is solitary science'. Every Mee. ' much conversant with these subjeas, must know, that oat of the coarsest and most gross materials, a regular army may be trained and fotmed to all military purposes, ail(' be capable of holding and maintaining the purest principles of honour and of military char.ler. When we talk of substitutes for armies, and the power of what 'is called an armed nadon. we should recalled, that in ancient as well as modern times, it was detached bodies of men, called armies, and not the united population of a country, that always decided Idle fate of empires. Armies are tie channels through which a nation ads, and in which its vigour, energy, and power are colleOed. Without referring to ancient hiss tory, which furnishes innumerable proofs of the truth of this position, I - need crily advert to two modern battles, which had as great an influence on the sle.tiny of empire., as perhaps any that could well be quoted. I mean those of Ma rei.go and Austerbts. Lie event of either of these will fully exemplify the faa, that an anion only is fought, and an empire falls. The result of either of these engagements was not decided by the strength of population ; for, when we consider how circumscribed was the spot, which was the scene of operation, and the number of men engaged on either side, how small a proportion do they bear to the millions, whose fate del:if-faded on the vietory ! ? In a military point of view, the people are no better than the rough ore, or metal in a mire, which can be convened to no useful purpose, nor made of any value, until it is manufaftured. So it is with the people, until a starient portion of them is trained and disciplined into an army. The armies of Bo naparte and the Emperor of Austria, must have met in confiid, or else the former m'est have proceed ed to Vienna as soon as he coup march there. for any opposition or imp-dement that the people could oppose to him. Every one knew and foresaw, that atter General Mack bail surrendered with his army, Bonaparte would have reached Vienna without op position. Will any one then suppose. that the peop!e of these territories, through which he was to march, wire not loyal, and more attached to their own legiu mare government, than to the dominion of strangers and enemies ? Will it be thought, that the inhabitants had sinews, muscles, strength and courage, equal at least, it not superior. to those whom they knew to be coming to oppress them ? Yes, Sir, they pos sessed all these. but they were not an army ; and Bonaparte walked through the population, which afforded him no more redstance than the air. I assure you, Sir, that there is no man would rely more theta I would do oa a zealous manifestation of the loyalty and courage of the people of this country, in case of ao invasion. So far, I have full and confident reliance on them ; but I will not rest upon it. Let us. for a moment, refer to as ex ample that as familiar to all of us. If ever there were a couatry calculated by nature to be defended by its populatioa. it was that of Swimerlat,J.— They possessed a c•santry so strong. its:predicable, and almost inaccessible to an enemy, that one nrght have thought it could be del:rt.:ed by a race of pig mies. But, that was so far from being the case, that the inhabitants were always resairk.eole r.yr strength, hardihood, and viour, and their military courage was so well kaown. and so renowned in history, as to bCCGOSO ervvcri.z. No people were ever more celebrated for their love of liberty, and invariable attachment to their country ; but not having a sufficient regular army, the population was unable to defend it, and Switzerland, in spite id every exertion, fell, unfortunately, under the yoke of strangers. AVithout, therefore, wasting the time of the House with any further argameat on what I have to propose, I shall only request the House to judge of the necessity of a regular army, by the uniform experience of the world. It is not, by any means, a theory I am advancing ; it, indeed, has nothing less in it than theory. I am, however, aware, that some of the Gentlemen opposite to me, may be disposed to call it so, and place me in the situation of the man in the French comedy, who was speaking plain prose, all the time that his auditors would insist he was addressing them in poetry. Dis missing, then, all theory, I fairly profess, that I Best for seeutity on a Regular Army only. As things are now constittned. I see, and I must own that I see it with an apprehension bordering on terror, that it the French were now to land in this country, we should have, at least, 100,000 men to contend for its fate. against troops, and such veteran and vido rious troops too, a 3 would probably be opposed to them, who never before had seen a battle in their lives. I have no hesitation in saying, that I should not think the country secure, if its destiny and its existence were at issue between regular troops and a force of that description. Having now, Sir, stated these prelim . nary oLservationi, which I thought necessary for the h-tter elu • cidation of the suhjet, I come next to submit the rnratum, which l propose fir the Hoare to adopt. and in which, though 1 do not exclude the preseut. Ido not mean to rest there. I cannot content my self with providing only for the present emergency, and discharging the future from my consideration. In attempting tot he proqress by which a re gular army may be rendered more effidual, I as sure the House, that it is far from my intention to arraign, in the slightest degree, the present discipline of the Regulasc. I bel'eve. and indeed I may say I know it to be as perted as their Constitution will admit of. There are only two ways that I know of, by which *regular army can be raised ; by force, or by entice; compulsory means are unquestionably the mo.tefficacitsus ; but that is a method, which ' the Constitution of this ccuntry, unhappily for that object, but most happily for all others, never can ad mit of. This country must have laws, to which every operation must he subordinate ; and these ail ing by a kind of fridion, weaken the force of military measures. An arbitrary Covet nment has the means of ailing, with repo./ to its military means, at its ow n discretion. A German Prince, for instance, may sek4 us many of has ethic /hi as he pleases, and it them be env cumstneces-of a mat,. family, or si tuation, which may entitle him to an exemption from that service, the Prince exercises his own discre tion; whether he will allow it to bun or not.--. With• us, however, these resources of military power are lost in the collision, as all men are equal, and every thing must go according to the strid letter the law. Such, as I said before, is the fortunate situation- of this country. We have not the arbi trary power of compulsion, which is said to grind the miller with as little compundinn as it doe. the corn. We cannot here seted our objets for mill. tary service, nor eon I have recourse to any oth-r compulsion, than that of compelling the pur ple to pay the money which may be required for the completion of the plan. The whole of our Militia system goes upon this kind of compulsory power, nod that compulsion serves to counter ed the voluntary service. The method that I , would propose for this objet ii, that the bar then wh.cli now falls only upon a third of the population, should in future fall upon the whole. —I am pendently convinced, that if a rrullion more were annually raised, and diffused over the whole mass of .the population of this country, it would fall upon the people as insensibly as the air they breathe. I do not attempt to say, that the necessities of the country may not possibly be, at one time or other. such as to require the compulsion of military service. Nothing is impossible to the legislature. which the exigeucies of the state may call fur—bat i centre. pria. feaninde," every riper'. I rnent should be made, every expedient employed, before we should apply ourselves to that last, and most extreme resource. The question then comes —can we, with the mean: we have, raise such an army eel propose t and what are the methods by whims it is intended to be accomplished ! My an. swer is. that in order to accomplish this (Ned, you must first put your army-in such a 'Uniting, as will induce the people to enter voluntarily into it. If you do not take means to accomplish this. my opi nion is, that you must give up all idea of voluntary service.. My wish therefore is, to make the military service so generally desirable amongst the mass of the people, as to attract a considerable portion of the inhabitants to embrace it. As the system has stood hitherto, we did not put the army on such a footing as to make it worth a man's while to enter into it. We have been like merchants driving a false trade, and offering commodities which were not worth what we asked. When we propose to sell our goods beyond their value. it is not much to be wondered at that we should find only a few enuomers. We per. sued a branch of bosicess which chiefly consisted of deceiving, cajoling, juggling. and holding out false colours. Tee officers employel in raising men for the service, frequently represented, that they could get none bat the careless, the idle, the dissipated, and the extravagant ; men, urged to the service by their temporary distresses, or lured to it by artifices, that were far from doing honour to those who pia& sed them. The un ice, which possessed no attraction in itself, could only go on by the arts and tricks of re. cruitiog ; but, we have, before this time, lost all thane resources; an,l have exhausted ail the artifices of delusion. For a long time past. boys have been the meat des:rable objets of re c rui t i ng o ff icers, and the greatest r esource o f t h e army ; not that bays are now any ream, compact! to sun, than !tsi were kr•Ck. n former times, hut that men will not now accept the invitistina. To say the truth, and, surely, every gentleman must know it, the improvements in the army—for I admit there .have been some very material ones—hare by nn means corresponded, in this country, with those avbich have been made in every other ration of life ; and the service, there fore, held out r.o sufrieient degree of encouragement. The only two substantial resources we I ave had, are the bounty and the ballot ; but. the bounty has been carried to such an excess, as to have the most injurious effea on the seri-,:e, and to raise the price of the market on us. Indeed, the very existence of the bounty affords a strong, and. I thiftk, irresistible argument, that the service of itself is not deemed worth the taking. In former times, and indeed within the recolleCtion of many of ourselvei, such a thing as a bounty was not known in the British set ' vire. Some or us ran et:Oka anen ao More was given than was required to provide the man temporary necessaries, to get him something to ; and a guinea and a crown was all that was ever thought of. I have seen official docu ments which she% that during the American war, several officers were reproved for giving so much as two guineas, to engage a man to en list ; but as matters stand now, what was then deemed extravagant, would fetch nothing from the market. In order to provide an army, and to suc ceed in our undertaking, we must make our trade of arms, an objet to those whom we have to deal with. The method we have pursued, is an anomaly in commerce. In almost ail other trades, men give a bounty to get into it. We, on the other hand, take a different couree, and give a bounty for people to get into it, or, in other words, we fine a bounty to our customer., for taking our commodities off of our bands. All this system, it it my wish to abolish, and restore the service all that 'vigour which it lost by modern experiments. The prin eiples, Sir, which I have laid down, appear to me so simple, so plain, and so irreragabia, that I think I may safely aft upon them without any ap prehension ot being contradieted. In our dealings for the service, we should follow the examples which we see befote us. In all other trades, when there,is a scarcity of hands, the method always taken hi to ir.crease the encouragement. It is our business to do the same, and, in order to have custom, we muse make the service worth the whik ot those we with to employ. We should also, like other traders, exert ourselves to find and push our market. Like them, we must show our good:, and exhibit them in. the most favourable point if view. They must be such as we can send, with a gnod proepea of success, to stand in competition with others, at I wakes, sad tits, rand or 7 'ketJt`wliqs 2 7 4 deed, wherever the eeimmodity could have a •tengi. Let me ask gentlemen, what prospect of therebegi in business they think-a tradesman would have, wh• k e p t lti,r shop in a back lane ; who put his goods ia a dark room, without windows ; who plac-il what was most desirable out of sight; who, in fine, nee f. gleeled every species of exhibition ; and had not re course to the usual praetice of advertising what be had for sale, and to the usual aid of thopmene clickers, barkers, Ste. ,dependirg vilely upon arts. rice and jisgeling It cell, I beliMe, hardly be thought, that such a wan could long meimain a competition with any of his rivalie', and. sob, pre cisely, issthe state of our military service. Let us, on the contrary, reverse our plan ; let vs drive a. fair and honest trade, and then we may wick safer. issue out our advettisements, and employ theta!), means that are made use of by our competitors...— Having now stated to the House all that I thought requisite to promise for the 'Aka I have in view, I next come to the application of these principles, for raising sueh an army ais•-I think the country stands in need of. Th. Arm expedient, then, that presents itself is, to raise the pay of the soldier. Why, Sir, with regard to that point, I know it is an easy thing to say, " it you give year flits fi ve s miling, a day, you art sure of never wandlig se;die•s." That, to be-sure, may be very tree t • but, be doing is, we should defeat our own objeft for dicipiice forbids us to do that which 'meld have an inevitable tendency to make the army been. tious. But there is also another reason eqeally strong against it, which it, that, as an array without discipline cannot be 'depended on in the - day of trial, or at, in fin, it is siseltes to have an array without d;cipline or order, that species of rigorous discipline which would be necessary to correct licentiousness, wooLl serve to deter a great portion of those, Who • may otherwise enlist, from entering into the service.. However, I think, that, without having recourse to that expedient, a military lire may be rendered sack' as can never fail to have attraamns far the multi. tude. Men can always be drains even by dit tinelions ; and I am convinced- that there- re-• main means encegh to the, toantry to • render its effeaive army faitly propeortienable to ies pii;)pu. Litton. Exclusively of the distinction, which I bslC fere alluded to. the provision midi Tot the aged, the infirm, the disabled, and the wounded soldiers, may be easily incteued in such a manner as ti afford a gteat additional degree Of inceiaragetnef:t ; that, however, Sou sat require any legislative pro vision, as the government of the country has it al- Ways in its power to do whatever is required- 4 or •that purpose. What I have next to draw the attys. Lion of :he House to, is an alteration, which, proper and desirable as it is, in my opinion, as well as in the opiniceii of teeny of these persons who ere best qua lified to judge upon emit subjeet% I must confess does not meet with universal assent. and' hr. against it the authorities of officers of great diseitletion. weose sentiments are every way unified to the highest degree of rexpeet. The alteration I stoic to, is, that of changing the service Iron, a term for life, that of a term for years, efhich wo assimilate ours to every other set vice of Eu rope. I mention, emphatically. fiery other ser vice of Europe, brcaose I know that in this couorry there is ..• armed force of £OO,OOO awn, who h a ve cooly been enlisted tot • iimitrel time. Now, Sit, vv 'p 0 t......14.1 ..... t( 1. .. r ' - ". ~ . A .L. six, to . l H 1. t': ' •