The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1806-07-12 00:00:00

a to bad this r.--. aft, MIN tLis in- Ire, WAS ita thole ering I, he don d 'lion deny which Aries, , tiziat Aga ight le, or :has ouvr. I be• ieved the Volunteers. He beg.n. by ariveltir.g tr. Marcy disadvetinitmons opi/A4,:i• unered in nest House, by the Right lion. Gentleman opposite him (Mr. Windham), against that highly usetul and pa triotic body of men.. .From those opinions o f t h e Right Hon. Gentleman he totally clif /red. lie thought the Volunteers were deserving of the highest praise, for the zeal, ardour, adivity, and patriotism, with wl ich they had come forward, in defence of their country, at a moment when it was threatened with the greatest danger. He thought that, in fad, they had been the means of saving the country ; and he bad, therefore, an inteution to propose a resolu tion in their favour, as he was desirous that such re solution should be a record of the House. to strew, at least, Meir opinion of the me-its, and the enninept services performed by the Volunteers. He adverted to the unremitting exertions they had made, to bring themselves to a state of discipline ; and the zeal acid alacrity they had shim, on every occasion, when ever and wherever an alarm had *eel created. In Yorkshire, when an alarm took place, every man who had been, at any time, enrolled in the corps, though, at the moment, withdrawn from it, turned out instantly, and joined the corps. femur to march at a moment's nonce • and, at Sheffield cad other places, they did aduely match. The same was the case in Roxburgh, where they turned out to a man, with the greatest alacrity, and actually marched 300 miles through frost an snow. He adverted to the ... w oe. wade by the Inspeding Field Officers, in which some of them were described as tit to join the line of the reguler army, and to tight in company with them ; others were mentioned to be in a state of the highest discipline, and, out of 300,003 Volun teers, he thanked God, there were very tow indeed, that were not fit to be reported. He said, those Van lunteers who had been most oil permanent duty were the best disciplined, and those who had seen the least of that, went the worst. He could not. therefore, but consider the abolition of Inspeding. Field Olken, as a regulation meant to get rid of the Volunteer, which he deemed a very unbecom ing return for their eminent and valuable services. It would have been mote decorous in the Right' Honournble Gentleman to have come forward, and told them fairly and cartiidly—" You have done the State some service, and they know it, but they have any further use for you." To such a manly declaretioa he would have had no objention. He paid a high compliment to the speech delivered by Mr. Shetidan in favour of the Volunteers, which find contributed to draw forth the zeal of the Vo luntee.s, and stimulated them to make the exertions they bad male in defence of the country. He thought no reasonable objention could be made to a resolution of this nature, as he was sure the Vo lunteers could not go on after dor repeated declera tinny of the Right llonoureble Gentleman resp ha ing them. 'lacy wish to know how they are to go on, and what they are to event ; and they will draw chit mach more satinfantorily from a declara tion of Parliament, than from the opinion of the Right Hon. Gentleman. He thought them a body ot men nitre'. better calculated for the defence of the country than those reluderit conscripts which were to be raised under the favourite Sill of the Right Hon. Gentlemen. !le wou:d not linger de tain the House, bat conclune by moving as tallow,: In Resolved—that this House doth highly approve, and thankfully acknowledge. the services of different Corps et Yeomanry and Volunteers, in toe United Kingdom; and that they think it necessary to re cord the opinion "tehich they entertain of that esta blishment, and ot the zeal, energy, and patriotism, with which they have contributed in so essential a degree to the defence and security of the country." Mr. DENT seconded the motion. He spoke for some time in great praise of the patriotic exertions of the Volunteers ; complained of the contemptuous manner in which that side of the House had uni formly been treated by the present Administration ; bad heard they meant to meet this motion with the previous question, but he did not think they dared to do so, notwitnstanding the very old ivooreble opinions which the Right Hon. Gentle:nen had de livered oa the Volunteer system. Sir R. IaiILBANKE said, he had the honour of commending a corps of Volunteers, who were as leelou; as any set of men in the world. He enter tained the same opingoo of t h e whole body ; they w, re hocen, he knew, and, he believed, bold ; and, therefore, deserved the thanks of their country. — In this vote, therefore, he concurred with all his heart ; bin he wished very much that the Hnn Gen tlemen had confiiieJ himself to the Vote of Thanks, as lie conceived that His .lajeaty's Ministers should have a p.maer of regulating the force ot the country in witaitmr way was considered best for ha sup port. General PHIPPS said. he was ono of those who were appointed to insped the Volunteers, and . he lad certain ly state d, i n hi s report , t h at many o f them were fit to serve in the Line, and better than s' tier ot the but there were none of them sunericr to the Regular Army. He did not wish, be said, to make any severe remark on the condud et tlis Majesty's Ministers, but he really thought the Volunteers had been dispirited. It was much to be termed, he thortatit, tha: they no longer had Ilse adv antage o f the Fuspeding Field Officers, and also :hat the drill seijeanis had been discontinued; as without the advantagts !a he derived from those. he did not think they could be of much service to their ciointry. The Hon. General then concluded hYdulanng, that, Irons his high opinion of the Vo brown, it WAS impossible he could azt otherwise than support the motion. Mr. Secretary WINDHAM said, his Hon. Friend ((.terra) Phipps) seemed to labour under a msutake, ssith rasped to the drill serjeantst; hey were tint abo lished, nor had such an idea ever entered into his round. His inzentitu was met ely to reduce their pay ; still, however, leaving as much as would make it an ajrll for them to continue is the service By the slew regulation, the pay of the drill•serj Pant, would i.e, seven shills or a day, ior every d a y th e y were cakd out ;vvi,ich was, in it .s opinion, fully siillicient; as they were, in general, nretribets of the corps. and attended their hthimese on the days they were uyt nut with the corps, like any of the pt ivate n.• - hers . The other point to which his Honour- Friead had alluded. was with reaped to tae opinion given of the state of d'scipline of the Volunteers. For his past. he always under stood it as the opinion of the In‘peiaora, 11,41 the greater peat of the Volunteer. could go tlatouzh the j eveut With the w:Ls re r tv in- der' f tte ftioS • • general man,xlvres With as much prcci>ion is the Regular Army ; but even though they could do thi, and aft with troops of the line, it Was nut pre tended they were so goed as troops of the line. There was something, therefore, beyond the more mil:tary manoeuvres, in which .they were sle.l,:ieat. Was this courage ? Certainly not ; the Volunteers were as brave men, as the . men who composed the line ; and men who were not Volunteers, as brave as men who were ; but, as a body, they had not all the qualifications of the Regular Armv. The regi ments of the line, even though filled with recruits,had the advantage of experienced Serjeants and Corporals; each regiment had a rame, which it was necessary to support, and which never died with the individuals who perhaps acquired it; they were also inured to pay severe obedienee to their office's, which the Volun teer were not ; and for all these reasons, it 'NA{ impossible that they could be as desirable a force as the Regular Army. With respect to the resolu tion proposed, it was first necessary to see whether the reasons given to induce the House to vote it, were sufficient ; and, for his part, he did not think they were ; as, in the first place, the Hon. Gentle man had not set out on facts ; for, after stating that His Majesty's Ministers were about to get shot of them, he advises the Howe, at least, to give them a be»r drectrit before they go. This was the misstate ment he complaieed of ; for it was not now, nor was it ever his intention to get shut of the Volunteers. It could not be expected that the system should be kept up its the manner it was begun, as the private subscriptions, which were double the 5,000,0001. advanced by Govetnment, never would be repeated; and he, therefore, thought it should be considered that any reduCtion made in the ex pence, did not tend to destroy, but to support the system. The Right Hon. Gentkman then ad verted to what had been said with respeZt to the permanent duty; but, he conceived. the expence was so great, as to warrant his taking it away ; and with regard to the system of training, he thought that would evidently tend to iocrease the Volun teers. He ag,rin contended, that the reasonings of the Hon. Gentleman were incarrea certain it was, that he thankfully acknowledg-d, and highly ap proved of, the condua of the Navy and Army for the last year; but he had not any idea, of moving a vote of thanks to them, a, there was no instance which pointed out the necessity; thetefore, he did not think thanks should be voted to the Volunteers, as there was no particular reason for it ; that stated of their being dispirited, not being well founded. It would not, however, be proper, he thought, to put a negative on the resolution, as some parts of it were true ; but, as other parts of it were untrue, and unsupported, he thought, the best way would be to move a previous question ; but as the Hon. Gentleman had said he would not himself da it, he hoped some other gentleman would, and he cer tainly would support it. . FULLER insisted, that the Right Hon. Gentleman had spoken in the most disrespeetful terms.ot the Volunteers, and advised him to make up the breach, by sopporting the motion. Mr. Secretary WINDHAM, in explanation, aide - hat he always entertained the same opinion of the Volunteers, that he this night expressed, and had on all occasions expressed it in substance. Lord OSSULSTON, after a few observations. in which he differed from the opinion entertained by the lion. Mover, concluded by moving the pre vious question. Mr. BANKES said, it was argued that this Vote of "thanks should not be given, because there was no change made with respeill to the Volunteers. A great change had been made in the army and n ivy ; as in consequence of the high opinion tne country entertained of them, their pay had been augmented. Now, with regard to the Volunteers, the dire et con• Crary course had been taken; and he, therefore, thought it was necessary that the country should declare that they entertained a high opinion of them. I he Hon. Gent. then expressed a degree of s orrow that certain words had been dropped by the Rt. Hon. Gent. and he really thought, that by his words. and not hip aS.,he had injured the spirit of t*Volunteerst with respeift to the latter, he had generally sup ported him in them; bat the former, he said, had been spread All over the country ; and therefore became Parliament to declare that the services of the Volunteers were acceptable, and a continu ance of them hoped for. He then entered into a particular detail of the advantages which would be derived from the new system of training, which he thought preferable to the Volunteers, but which would be subsidiary to them. He would ask his Honourable Friends belts e him, with what view they brought forward this resolution ? (A cry of bear! hear! from the Miltrterial Ben:hes . 1 ) Was it with a view of embarrassing those who had the conduet of the nation entrusted to them ? ( Loud (rift of hear! beer! free the 1.2101$ ,a,“a r teri . l ie also called on the Right Hon. Gentlemen opposite him, to join him in excluding from the resolution whatever would cast a reileCtion on the mai. e ity of the House, by calumniating the measures which had been adopt ed by them, and then pass the vote of thanks to the Volunteers. The Hon. Gentleman concluded by hoping that the motion for the previous question would be withdrawn, and that his Hon. Friends would allow some words to be struck out of the Re solution, which, to him, appeared exceptionable. Sir ROBERT WILLIAMS said, he could not conceive a milder or more proper minion than this, which had for its objed to thank those who had merited well of their country. and be gave it his hearty concurrence. _ _ Mr. WILBERFORCE said, he had not thought, upon a former occasion, when the thanks of Parlia ment were moved to the Volunteers, that they had then done any thing to deserve so high a distinc tion ; but he was now fully of opinion that their continued anJ valuable services highly merited that acknowledgement. It should be remem bered, that they were that deuription of force, that could only be encouraged and main tained by this sort of commendation; and the great sacrifices of time A n d money they had made, had well earned this :need. With respea to the utility of the Volunteers, he believed that, in addition to their other recommendations, they had much as sisted the recruiting for the regular army ; and he p.witively knew that some corps Lad furnished great numbers of men to that force. The Ho. nnurable Gentlemin proceeded to state, that per manent Ju:y to a wort pet sseti:d contribute to pat the Volunteers under . more mditary restraint, and better conduce to that state of discipline, which it was desirable they should be in, than the pro posed drilling on detached days in the year. He exceedingly lamented, that the motion should have had the previous question put upon it, and thought, that if the than'ss of the House were given unanimously, as proposed in the first part of the motion, it would be of more value to those whom it interested, than the last part, carried by force of numbers in that House; and unless the words of the motion could be altered so as to render the whole unobjectionable, he wished the question should he di•ided. General TARLE FON observed, that the House had lately concurred in allowing an increase of pay to the Army and Navy, and the present motion was calculated to re-establish that credit, of which the Voluoteers believed themselves to have been dz prived, by what had been advanced respeCting them. It had been, on a recent occasion, suited, that we might again begin to look for a visit from Bou logne ; arid it would not be said that the Volun teers, in such a case, would not eminently contribute to our security. For himself, he was firmly of opinion, that the metropolis would be better proteted by '2.1,000 Volunteers, than by so many regular sol diers. The necessity, therefore, of preventing their, diminution, by applying an antidote in the ifi'ape of the motion proposed. to the disg ust which they The lien. General stated the result of some experiments which he made to prove the utility and efficient celerity of some Volvnteer Corps in the neighbourhood of Bristol; and concluded with the observation, that he attri buted the dying words—" Oh, my country,"---of a much-lamented Statesman, to his convidirm of the versatility and unfitness of the Right Hon. Gentle. man (Mr. Windham) for the office to which he would succeed. Mr. SHERIDAN was indneed to rise thus early in the debate, in consequence of what had fallen from the two Flonourable Gentlemen who had last spoken. He had always admired the reverence and affeftion with which the friends of the Right flonourahle Gentleman lately deceased, (Mr. Put) spoke of him. Whether the Hon. General ( I arle ton) was one of them, he knew not (e i.regb but %hen he said that the dying lamentation of that distinguished man was uttered because of the prohabrlity of the Government falling into the hands it had d me, he could not but observe, that rime likelihood, at that time, was, that it would deeclee into the hands of those persons whom he :.imself most wished (Hear hear .7. The milita ry measures which had lately come under discus sion, were not exclusively those of his Right Hen. Friend (Mr. Windham), but were the plan. adopted and supported by the whole of Ira Majesty's cabi net ; and he (Mr. Sheridan) WIS thereraie particu- Lily sorry to differ in opinion, as to the propriety of them ; but he continued to thiuk, that the coun try should not rely solely upon a force of one description, as nO country relving upon such means only, had ever been saved. He never would consent to reduce, by a single man, rims! great constiortinnal force, the Militia; but, above all, he never could alter his opinion of the Volunteer system. At a period when many thought him pre mature in his proceedings, he had moved a vote of thanks to the Volunteers, and frost the entire con viction he entertained of the vast service they were capable of rendering, he had ever felt it to be his duty to do all he could to promote their interests and maintain their charader. From the returns which had been laid fo:forethellouse, it wasevident that they had persevered until they had attained a state of disci pline that entitled them to the thanks of the coun try ; and he could not allow that the reports which had been made by regular General Offi,:ers, of the sate of that discipline, were not to be attended to, and relied upon, as it could not be sup posed those Officers would deceive the Govern ment ; if they would, what became of that superior respell due to Regular Officers ? He had formerly stated a fad which he had acquired a knowledge of from a correspondence which he held with a ge stleman in France, that no circumstance had ever isioned so much dismay to Bonaparte, and his Minister, Talleyrand, as that of the invitution ciL our Volunteer System. From the moment of its commurieation to them, all idea of success fully invading this country, vanished. If ever unanimity was desirable, it was in the case of this Tuition : but, for himself, he could not ac cede to the words of the motion, as they at present stood, and hoped that those Hon. Gentlemen who supported it, would consent to the adoption of that kind of middle poposition, which should go the length of thanking the Volunteers for the services they had rendered, without having any perspective declaration. The Hon. Gentleman then proceedesito vindicate Mr. Windham from the charge of having disparaged the Volunteers. He had himself for merly had several bickerings with that Right Ho nourable Gentleman on the suhjed ; but he was sure that, in the present case, pains had been taken to give to his words a meaning which they were not intended to convey. As the ads of the Right Honourable Gentleman were admitted not to bear out the words imputed to him, no disgust WAS justified from the rumours, as an unequivocal negative of them had been afforded, and a hope expressed, that the Training Ball would increase the number of Volunte.a.. But a vote liks what he (Mr. Sheridan) proposed, must at once satisfy all parties. On a former occasion he bad moved the thanks of the House. to the Yeomanry and Volunteer Corps, for she alacrity with which they had stepped forward, in that moment .. crisis, for the defence of tie country, and toe motion had been carried unanimously. What bad passed since that, made it necessary to renew the vote ; the Jed of which would be entirely to refute the machinations of the insidious, and allay the apprehensions of the suspicious. He wished the Hon. Member to withdraw his motion for the previous question, and thought that. by substituting, instead of the latter words of the original motion, the words " That the House continues to maintain a cordial sense of the service of the Yeomanry and Volunteer Coils, and highly approves of their perseveranc...s." all par t:es might be reconciled. He concluded by saying, that :here never was a count, y so indi bted to a body, as this was to the Volunters, and that they would be iatitled to everlasting gratitude.. / • Mr. PERCIVAL objected, that the prop-sition of tire Right Hon. Gentlemap s( Mr. Sheridan), was merely expiessive of approbation for past services, containing no perspective expression, and contriblit ' ing, in no deeree, to r,.move the doubt which ex isted of the iuteution of Government to continue the Volunteers. After what had fallen from the Honourable Gentleman, by which it appeared, that, during the pfogress of these BA:s thr nigh the House, for the effeaing of measures. which he had to-night so generally condemned, he had retired from the House, in crde: that he might not be to the necessity of objceling to them (a tied raj Hear! bear! from the Oppotitim 8.-ne.414.1 • His sincerity, in the present case, appeared very doubtful, and his proposition s e v much like a com promise to shield his ll;ght Hui;. Friend ( Alr.Wind ham) from the effeet of his indiscreet ensure. If . any thing could have the efred now, of recenciline the Volunteers, it would undoubtedly be a grave par liamentary recognition of the ♦alue of titer services. • arid a wish for theircontinuance; and if she Hon Get . ' could induce his Right Hon. Friend to accede to such a vete, no captious adherence to words on his (Mr. Percival's) side of the House would prevent theit unanimity. If there had not existed a fele doubt of the favourable intention of the Right Hen.. Secretary towards the V.oltrnseets. the manner is 'Which the previous question had been to-nigin rneve4 upon a motion of thanks to them, would haw* created one. The opportunity was now afforde# of proving that he had been misrepresented, and of • letting him join in a wish for their continuance and if it was evaded by the previous question being carried, the doom of the Volunteers could so law* be considered doubtful, a ' Mr. SHERIDAN explained. Viscount HOWIC said, the inference wave not correet. that, because the previous questi,i4 should be carried against this motion, the Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. NVindham) was, theretore, to be set down as having decidedly avowed a inclination to continue the Volunteers, AS the original motion would merely be by that means di• pored ot. because nn ground was shown for its adoptinn. He thought. Ware objea of the Right Hon. a n d Lem-tied Gentleman (Mr. Tercival) and his friends, had been to make thY• Volunteers beiieve that they etre ag. grieved, and make them discontented with the mu of the Legislature, they could not have pursued any better course for th,•ir purpose, (hear ! herr !) He concluded an aide speech, by reprobating, after so many lengthened and vexatious debates duriog • the Session, this attempt to create another general debate on tit- ,tosject of the Volunteers. Mr. CANNING ably pursued the come* of ear giment of Mr. Percival ; and detlered, that by the course pursued to-night, when. after a loag suspensor the subjea had been decisively brought to an issue. the blow was struck, if, instead of altuwing the vote of thanks to be ca.ried, the previous question was persisted in. Mr. WINDZIAM denied that that would be the consequence ; and said, that the only crecasien which the previous question could be moved, was, when it was not wi&h.:l to negative • a niotivb, although a clonist was entertained of its propriety. Lvrd DE BLAQUIERE, and Sir H. MILD► MAY. spoke in favour of the original motion. Mr. WHITBREAD gave every credit to the Volunteers, hut thouee tins war nut a time to press for a vote of thanks to them. Viscount CASTLEREAGH supported the Mo tion ; and, Mr. CARR replied to Lord De Blaquiere. A division then took place. when there sere, for • the previous question, as maved by Luta Ossulston, Ayes, 75—Noes, 4l—Majority 3 k On our re-admission to the Gallery, we found Mr. SHERIDAN en his legs, who, to remove the doubts entertained by the Volunteers, of the inten don of Government towards them, and to prevent a relaxation of their laudable services, moved. " that this House continues to retain a cordial sense of tLe zealous e xertionsof the several corps of Yeemanyanet Volunteers associated for the defence of the country, and doth highly approve of their continuance to be SO associated." Viscount HOWIC said, feeling as he did, that this motion was moved in a time that did not justify it, he was under the incesitry of moving the previous question as bad been done before. Atter a short debate, the numbers, on a d:vision. were, Ayes Ca Noes 39—Majority 50. The other Orders were then disposed of, and, at FOUR O'CLOCK. the House adjourned. •.• An unmerited censure west the state of Lie pubis, Press, appeared in The Career of List night. We r. pet wet the length of the Paskamentary Debate obliges us 14. defer our refutatoin of the foul slander, until Mooslmp. THE BRITISH PRESS. LONDON, SATURDAY, Juir It. We hive inserted, in the last page of this paper, a most interesting article : it is a Codicil sp the Will of that great, glorious, and ever-to-be-la mented hero, Lord NLLSON, proved only on the 4th instant, in the Prerogative Court. The length of the Parliainettary Debate prevents us from en tering at large into observoti•ins upon this docu ment. We cannot, however, tom bear to notice, that it fully explains the unmanly and implacable ven geance with which BON AP• kr purities the Quoins of Noirtes. To the friendly offices of that unfor tunate Princess, obtained by Lady HAMILTON, Lord Nxt.som, in his last moments, has declared, by his Will, that his cntmtry is indebted for the glo rious 'Rimy of Aboukir, and the consequent de feat and flight of Roo A p taro. The Ontaimort left o:1 - yesterday at EL, and the Cot.si)l4 for the opening at 631. This high state of the Funds shews the confidence that is ?laced is the present negociation. Yesterday, at one o'clock. a Cabinet Council was very uneareFtedly called at Mr. Fox', Office, which was attended by the Loan CHAMCIILLOII, Lord Ettcnnovotian, Lord Gainve-aa,Lnd H.Parrv, Earl Ft raw' Li aim. ViSC4llllllt SIDAIOUH, Earl Sr ILM cat. Mr. WiistsseAst, Viscount Howic, Earl Mot its,and Mr. T. Claaavi a at, who attendei for the first time ,iuce his coming into offi:e. The Lots CHANCELLOR remained bin a short time, Items *Wised to go to the 1-Luse of Peas.