The Sun. — London, England, 1805-02-22 00:00:00

ille AVIS C) making the improvement ne ptoposeo. JIC saw many Gentlemen on the other side of the House who had thought it most necessary to review the system of Defence ,in the last Session. He would ask those Gentlemen how they could think such a review necessary then, and not think it full as ne. cessary nowt lie desired them to take the account as it &sod then, and to consider in respea the ; balance had been changed. It was necessary, to alter the State of the ease, that: some change should have taken place—either that The Enemy's means of an. nay ing us should hive decreased; or that our relat ive strength should have increased mote than iheir's. It was necessary also, that this diminution Of our clan. ger should not be a -temporary cessation, but that she cause of appteherision Khould have entirely piss. ed away not to, return. In his . elpinkin no mate: rhtl change bad taken place. It was trite some all. 3ition had been made tO cur Force, 'hut if even a greater addition had been made, ,that would not be sufficient. The general state of cur Military Establishment was what it .would• Ise necessary .... to inquire into, and what had been done under the late Defence An to give those improvements which were so generally allowed to be wanting be. flire. Those who'had voted for a Committee of Inquiry con this subjea before, and one in particu lar who had gone further than all the rest (the CHANG aLt.ott of theExcrt e ),were,he thought, particularly called upon to import- his Motion. He should feel extreme surprise it they should resist it, and was at a lois to think what reason theytould possibly offer for such a resistance, except, indeed, they were prepared to confess they were weong in their , opinions at that time ; that the measures they • arraigned at that lime had merits which they did not then see; and that the measures they recom. mended had deficiencies of which they were 'not aware, Was the - Honourable Gentleman (the Chan. • cellor of the Exchequer) prepared to say, that the whole of the additions made to our Military Este. blishment were made by his present Colleagues, whom he then opposed ? wits he prepared to say, • that the measures he then declared bad were now good, and that the men he then censured as inca. pable, were now most capable ? Was he prepared to say to those men, " 'your measures have been such, that if I had then had the opinion of, them which I have now, I would not have voted for the In quiry i" Was he prepared to allow that every thing which had been done, and which was now avail. able, was done by them ? ''Was he repaled to say , to his now Noble Colleague, of whom he was 'alien the strenuous opponent Quoit scio et facto, Si facto tuuritest ? He was, indeed, himself prepared to allow, that the Noble Lord and his associates had doee much more than had been done since; but as his opinion was not changed .as to the positive defeds of what they had done, he still coot bored of Opinion that the inquiry was necessary ; 'and he thought those who voted for it on the former occasion could not do otherwise than support his M , tion now. If it was meant to be ar. gued, that men were procured by the measures ulti. trimly adopted by the late Administration, and then in progress, he had never denied that ,the system of raising men fa rank would procure them. He was ready to allow the force of faMily influence in Ire. land and SCotland ; but he contended that the prin. ciple of a system of recruiting under that influence was injurious. it was not to , be denied that the picnimpttvc heir to an estate may raise money on annuity, hut such would be ruinous to him. The measure of rec'ruit'ing frir'fank was one which he always objeded to, nut that he denied its power of raising men, bat that ha thought it a most pernicious mode of obtaining them. Thus the ballot obtained men'of necessity,. and a onnsiderable Force, almost . alt' that bad' been obtained to meet t'ae extraordinary exigency , had been supplied by it, under the diredion of the late Ministers, so that whatever obligations the Hun. Gentleman opposite owed to it, he was indebted for to them ; yet, whatever it had ptoduced, could not reconcile him to the principle, any more than if the Parish Bill itself had pro. duce(' 'men. He therefore saw nothing to di. minish the necessity of Inquiry. All the linnet objeetions to the state of our Military gstablish. merit were still in full force; and he knew not how, after the failure of the measure proposed as It remedy, any Member who voted for Inquiry then could avoid voting fur it now. This, how. ever, Watt '4 mere ittpowentsivs ad Amines for though a large part of the House, notwithstand ing it was a' minority then,' how a majority, hat, supported that proposition, heihOuld not think It necessary, on that ground alone, that they 'should support him. Men . should ,to deterniined always by the evidence before them; many of the Measures thus instituted had by this time been brought to trial, and had justified themselves by their success ; others had been decidedly condemned by their fah. lure. The very circumstance of a Spanish War changed die situation of the Country. .But that was ant all. it might have been 'said by the late Mi. 41iiitefft and their adherents, that the Regiments rail. ing in England and 'Scotland promised cis be suceese. Mul;, that some of their other measures also had pro. eared Men, and that the Army of Reserve, though :morel - ailed, had been amply successful, and nay again be revived, and that a further trial of all their ma. votes would prove the e ffi cacy of them. To those who voted for Inquiry egainst those Ministers, he Arnold submit a broad question as to the necessity of Bi-igniting now. Was the present state of thisCono. try, not meaning by the present state the bare con. dition of the rojrnitit, but as far:as the view could teach, not a consideration of more vital import. once than had ever before been known Whether an Army was tot necessary not inertly to enable this Country to rank among the Mitions, not only to pre. ,crve her power, her distant Colonies, and the other sources of her consideration, but even to preserve herself ifoin year to ye3l ? Whether our siittiatiort was like that of the feudal times, when a man was oh. tiged to sleep with his sword under his pillow, and when he was under the necessity of keeping - his at. :11:;ur by him even while at the plough/ AU that we I,lw arnund us abroad, all the domestic occurrences I)l.st had taken place here, all the military discus. Lions that had taken place in the 1-fouse, the result of ;licit had been the turning out of the last Mini. firer, and the corning in of the present, which had tot - nett Ministecti of lfintince and chancour. of 1,116 AGANGIMEIUSI 7 -- . -- which had rendered all the men in the Country milt. tart, all !hi's proved the extraordinary and impe rious necessity' for a great and permanent military force. 'The next question was, whether we had or were soon likely to 'have such an Army as was necessary for an immediate exigency t The third question w; : iiid be, whether our Military Sync* was commodious and well construded, so •as to answer the public exigenties in the be manner;, so as to yield the best possible force, or a force in some measure ale.. quate tri the expense and exertions of the Country ? Fourth, supposing it answered all these requisites, had it that facility of recruiting so as that it - could exist long and support itself without any new or extraordinary aid ? Could these questions be answer. ed, unless the, state of the Country was differeot from .that which he desoribed it ; unless we could soon have in establishment adequate to the exigency; on. less the description of the force was.good and in pro. pOrtion to the expense we had been at, and the exer. tions we had• made ? Unless it could be recruited and kepi up so as to secure it frnm decay, unless petted and complete satistaaion could be given on all points, there was a positive and undiminished necessity for the Inquiry ? We were told of the Force of the 'Volunteers, the Militia, the Army of Reserve, and the Regulars. His first objection to this Army Was its variety. Variety was a . perfe4ion in Na. ture, but it was not so in the constitution of an Army. The distinetions of Heavy Dragoons,' Light Cavalry, Artillery, and Infantry, was satisfigtory, because these were cite different cooaponenapatts of an - Army ; but these different species of Force de. scribed here were distinCi 'Armies in thetuselves.— ' If one of these descriptions of Force was good, why was nut the whole of that description ? For instance, why was not our whole Force Militia I The answer was, that we wanted part, of .our Army for Foreign Service, and that the Militia was only for Home Service. This reminded him of the man who cut a Large hole fur his cat to 'pass through, .and a small one for his kittens—(a laugh)—for it seemed to he forgot, that those who were liable to serve abroad could serve at home likewise. He thought it bet. ter, before be proCeeded, to examine the constitution of these four different_ , Armies, how far they were consistent with ecoriomy ; how far they gave the greatest and best force; how far they interfered with each other ; liow far they counteratted general means of recruiting and how far they were the 'basis of a permanent Force. The Volenteer System hail undergone so much discussion, that he wished he could 'eaes over it without saying , aey thing now ; but he could not help saying that all his for. mer opinions were confirmed by the additional ex. perienee' he had since he expressed them. They Were further confirmed by the testimonies, of the best authorities ; and here he hoped it would be hardly necessary for him to say that he meant not the slightest rede'tion on those who composed the Volunteer Corp, who were ready to do any thing that was pointed out co them ; who had taken great trouble to do what they were direeled to do, wider, this system ; and if they h a d not done what was best, it was not their faults. The Volunteer Sys. tern 'had many delctis in all views, political, civil, and military. If the Volunteers were designed to answer a sudden emergency, it was a misfortune that they were not lett to accomplish their nature, purpose in their natural 'state. there were things itm mattes suractent to indicate what might be expeeted if it was attempted to give them a forced charatter and a prolonged existence. If there was any such intention, he looked upon it as than. gerous in a political view, and he protested against it. As to the civil charaner, he apprehended a ge neral efreft on the manners and habits of men, such as would be much to be lamented. it tended to disturb the general relations of civil life, to fill those who belonged to it with vain and extrava. gant pretensions,. to bring down the high, and to exalt the IoW. Though he was not one who wished for a high.lianded Aristocracy, such as that of the times when the high looked down. on the low, he was still a ftiend to the consi iteration of ranks. flistorY had a story of a Prince who had a man to go before him, to remind him that he was a man, least he should forget he was one ; and many Political Writers thought it a great advantage in our Constitution, that Our !copular elektions brought the great occasionally to sue to the Imitable . But extreme distinalons were not the vice of the present time. The Pea sant now came so near the Courtier that it was not necessary to study to confound them still more. — When committees of Volunteers had the power of roving votes, of praise and censure to those of the highest ranks, tic thought a door was opened for much injury to society in a quarter where it was, least apprehended. There was nut a peopl e in the world disposed to shew more respeft to the superior classes than the people of England, he meant 0 dignified respOt, having nothing slavish in it, a homage to imputed virtues. If these virtues were not equal to the Credit g i ven t h em , t h e f au l t was in those who were supposed to possess them, and the respett that W ill s h ewn on t h e b e li e f o f their existence tvas nut less honourable tcs. ihOSC who paid it. Then, as to the elieldt of the .Volun teer Force on the Army, he did not think it could be the objet of any considerable degree of confidence. , If some Battalions were equal to Regular Soldiers, and others were not so, it would be impossible to know when they were to be depended upon and when they were not. It was like those hooks of travels In which truth and falsehood were mixed, it was impossible to distinguish what wa s true. T o those who arguet! that the Volunteers were better materials of defence, disciplined as they were, he answered so was a pistol a more effectual weapon than a bludgeon, but if the lock was out of order and the powder bad, the bludgeon was unquestion. ably better. It was absurd to boppose, that putting men to red coats, and grenadiers' caps, was sufficient to make an Army. We are told everyday of the Volunteers being so well trained, of their dressing, marching, exercising, nvimetiv ring, and looking in every, respett like regular soldiers ; hut that was nut enough to make them regular soldiers. Nothing more like than a pidure was'to a man ; yet it Was riot a man.---(a laugh I) A celebrated painter made grates so like, that the birds came and peck. eel them, but they found they were nut grapes it was like the painted devil drscribcd its Afar. j - • Or 0 This painted Army was such a one . as mere men could make the likeness, but not the reality of a Regular Army. It was not by the mere combina tion of the mechanic parts of discipline that a Soldier was to be formed. It might as well be said, that flour, sugar, plums, and batter, made a pudding—(alaud laugh!). There was a process, and 'the aetion - of fire and water was necessary to the perfection of that excellent produdion. This was the sense and the philosophy of the subjed. He did not wish for the continuance of the Volunteers as part of our Military System ; he wished they never had been a part of it. It was urged that the Volunteer System was a proof of the spirit Of the Country ; he allowed that it was, if such proof were wanted. But he should have thought that the Enemy would have allowed us credit for this spirit without this proof; that even supposing us to be a nation of shopkeepers, they would, believe us sincerely attached to our shops—(a laugh). The Volunteer Force could not be counted upon in point of- permanence. Founded upon zeal, it was of ne. cessiry as temporary as its principle, and though new threats my be used to enforce the continuance of what former threats had contributed tocreate, the du. ration must of necessity soorefind its limits. It was like a fine theatrical position, which could not be preserved beyond a certain moment, sand if the cur tain did not drop, the arms must fall - --(a laugh!). The men would fall back into their natural station. By bounties and threats an effort may he made to draw them forth into battalions. The Government may shake parchment at them to drive them back again into these battalions, as It had done at first,to drive theM forward. A Bill . may be passed to render the Volunteers more voluntary--(a laugh ! ) and to make theta permanent they may • be coo. stituted into a little Militia—(a laugh!). It w as said, in accounting for the thinness of themus e tees, that those wive absented themselves from, drill had learned .all that was necessary.' Those who were most diligent being of course soonest perfeeted; if they absented themselvei • as soon as, complete, those who remained in their absence must be a mere aulcward squad---(q laugh);, and when all were completed there would be none in attendance (a loUd laugh). There were certainly, some things, such as swimming, which if once learned were never forgot e military discipline was not of that number, it required.continued exercise to preserve it. FroM these considerations he could not' agree that the, Volunteer., System had done any. great good ; or that it was calculated 'to dis any—but .lvast of all, that it was to he looked to as a part of 'our Military Establishment. Next, as to the Militia, which:he would describe in two words, by allowing that it was as good a force as it could possibly be, and that it went far beyond the designs and expectations that were formed of it et, its institution—it had attained the highest perfection it could possibly teach ; but the vicious principle of the bollot, on which it was founded, lied the 01031 perniaiotneeffeds on the means of sup plying our general Military System. • There were' but two ways of supplying an army, Isy voluntary servile; and by compulsion. The armies of most other countries, he believed, in some measure, were now supplied by compulsion. France recruited her armies by conscription, - he believed, not to the'ex. elusion of volunteers ; old France, he believed, re. etuiteo entirely by volunteer service ; Russia re. eroited by cornpulsiun'; so did Sweden ; Denmark, in a great degree ; Prussia altogether ; and Austria chiefly ,by means not very, remote frsom thee,' ; /36. tale raised its forces by volunteers alone, with the exception of the Train Elands. The consideration of a bounty of one guinea, or a guinea and an half, could not have presented any inducemene. The inducement wat the stem and condition of a soldier, and the bounty served only to wet the bargain— (a loud laugh). Here the Hon. Gentleman traced the history of the Militia, from its institution in 1756, .from the impulse of shame arhaving Hessians and Hanoveriane brought into the Country to defend it. This waeconsidered a cheap force, which would lie. by in time of peace, and go to grass tile wanted (a lead laugh). Thus, being a force of mixed descrip (ion, it lost the advantages of those between which it was intended as a atean. Our Foreign and our Home Defence were intimately connected. The loss of its greatness would be to this Country equivalent to the loss 'of its existence ; for when it ceased to be great, it would cease to be at all.—( cry of hoar ! hear 0-7 There could be therefore no question of the legitimacy of the right of calling for and enforcing personal service if there was a necessity of calling for it. It was not necessary, however, to have re. course to compulsion ; and it was not legitimate as we could 'di) without it. There were other mea. sures more constitutional and more consistent with our former poetic*, which there was still room to hope may be successful. Such was the System that had existed before the ballot had been introduced—. a poi s on that had of late spread e so widely, an d been so destsuCtive. Thi s poison had long lain dor mant. There was a spirit in the lower order of the people which would not for a time suffer the bal. lot to he enforced. Frog . ) 1756 till reee, the begin: • ning of the American War,the ballot had never once been enforced; bpt in .this period there. was certainly included nine years of peace, from 1763 to 1774. At that time there was no system of substitution ; no Bounties growing o u t of it. From that time the increase of bounties commenced.'. The Govern. mint was before the only bidder in the recruiting market, and the recruit took the condition .of Soldier with a, guinea to make it a wet bargain.-- Then from the limit of time and of space in the ob. ligation to find a substitute in one's own district, the price was increased to Government all Oyer the Country, in so much that ten guineas were given in the American War. Then a remedy was adopted s similer to that which our farriers applied to horses' legs, till the Veterinary College taught us better, giving temporary relief, but causing the complaint to relapse with increased force. Thus our State Farriers (a laugh), when the amount of the Mili tia rendered the regular recruiting so dear, expeCted j t f o {fuserstherelieveygWdvias by Ceiest g iv i ng; muchus threatened as o t mor e w b t e g d u i M a i i n n e i l a s i s s t e i ß d a . o t u h r e l l t n y . 177 11 2 e 1 l i r 7B e 2. a ' s 4t a i g% r it i l " re v d a u s e t ed to risein 3.l, and the who the A ineric" l'i'ar, o f that was nor given i n money, In th following Tv .1 1, •101.../r 111, 4 1 .111liet WelM 1111.11.1 1 ,1, ----• Regular Army and and few served who were not subso. tutcs, the'bounties became enormously high. Den came the pernicione system of raising men foreieki by which men who were only Cornets, and !MS men who had never been in the Army, Were Ma* Colonels. In raising men the Bounties were boug ht to such an excess that it was necessary 10..ihree 1s ! with dismissal those who gave More than Of 8 1 . 1 "' near. Then the Scotch and Irish Militia were ts' stituted, and the latter wascarried to the stool aB,ooo. Next came the stypiementary Militia, in afterwards the Provisional Cavalry. Thais last-Ws. a thing of so short duration that it lied slipped _ 11 " memory at first; but it had left effetis not to be forgotten. h passed over the Country like* blight — (a laretl). It was like a beetle st a (sift which a man gut through in a moment, and hide think of afterwards, till he found he had l ost hit watch.:'-‘(a la 4 b )• It was a pleasant. earteeitsl make every rmn ride another men!* horse(/' lax, off till at length when the men and horses went 3 brought together, no than knew how to mount, Oa so they all separated (a loud laugh). , From chit felts of. t o i r . g al o l g tl u te in s e e a p s, roCeedings, the bounty was ra l ' adequate and permanent supp ly s t u h p e p re ly w :f s te n r ° a r i c l. li4 Ch eic " rtil°lll Establishment of the Militia and Army of It'''' e l f h : to the amount of 1 40 , 0 00 men, entirely chorikee„ t i regular and ordinary sources. ft was an who was now absent (Colonel Carkurotto)i the other Gentlemen at that side of the WWI " had given its beneficial qualities to this ,A of Reserve An, so that whatever 'effen 1 came frbm tha t side of - the - Honsereintlrellfut. : friends may sa y, lik e Dennis, r' it rtit . " get." Thus he had traced the 'mischief ,!' ° l from, the . American War. The ballot W.es prieciple 'which must of necessity ,e ' Xhitel l ' i/stili .and it must have been exhausted when 3 M et' panl which was calculated to produce 50,00 0 fon by - no possibility be made to produce more 370003. Applying it farther it was like givioJPare Sic to a 'man whose stomach would not hold .111 , /I ,i, who immediately vomited it off (a laugh.) s ~„,0 . was the system of ballot which had been a ele3 thirty.seven years, and which had pratiacf,be kind of Force regarded as a preciouS eligi!rs tp a laid up in .time of Peace till it should be vian!e je tra time of War. The Ministers who had t 0 hi3l. ° r e j, it till it stopped, were not, however , be' , Pr in. bfy had only tried a known anti establ ished t o fee ciple as far as it could go. Having made the fl f g tos of . Amiens, having suff e red Bonaparte Lthis run the Continent, and having made War tid a dt .Country could be nothing but a besieg e !' i • e tee elait Minister had recourse to this measure - fr thit hew of Ulysses, which he made such u se ( t ete of • ,Main Bell, and the other celebrated 0.0"}g011h old; were nothing 'to him (a /aei, , o. , o the force. was so spent, that nothing „ c lot the done, anti as !soon as this great o° 4r d ; arrow,• it fell at his feet, The frieUde ° ' ••„- Lotd (Siosaourts), however, cried "e iti°ll P a gill g d trair i lc d e, rie:h t o i t o oty : :osi c nen o gbc n ,ay s w i ni c ai l et e h r ninel i lc t ,ikal i , n .li t ‘ l tih i tl e!; Nth ng ortib c d c ti ;: es g er e ctoivin d sesta, t i l s i i, e itic jir, t o w: l: : :: ; a,h . ti ne: p6:ll : l; the Clerk of the Course to give judgMee, t Alic e but the person who held the stakes was tfico lo to give them into his hands; and having* ' 1 - . 0 toe, time, been given into other hands, with s ' uc l l l oo o different system, the Noble. Lord now' hke i [if thein! , ,,back, and was not satisfied to ha re heee• hal vee(loud and continued laughttr.) fic t 4 0 Gentleman e 'P a " "any forcible illustratio ns stee l absurdity of recruiting the Army by the y ': o fitt i i means of' the Army of RCSerVe• Th e Art. ' O s " serve supplied many recruits, because it abol ppm the men of the Country, and the additions!notba ties induced men to go the circuitous so ots the *Army. 'Fo praise it qn this a ccounts oli }lob same as if, because all the Members 'of s t ," e be came into it through the Lobby, it shal l ot: l ;i' whin a wonderful place the Lobby is, w i ld*/ plies the House with all its Members(tridll'.•ii to° W hen the Reserve ceases to furnish tto n ' k preserved as a vast e n gine no longer at "'ar 100 always to be regarded with astonishment's ast explanation of t h e p o w e rs of which, the 1104 o digester:or boiler w a s described as coo lul , 11 , 11 0( 01 : 'with the Parishes, by m eans of an ialtu a r l it pillar . ) , tubes,, and when it Was ad c . c : did not! communicate .a large cube with red pulat reservoir, no :reason could be give s ': the in' that :it was too simple and unwor th y e h' of th genuity of the 'contrivers. There woe , " If of .• a talent for compulsion in that measures ,en A pelted the Parish Officers to get the do the Parish. it was fire fire burn sit e he • heat dog dog (a loud laugh./ stick! fish Officerit t over whom the Parish Wt. n ° - , i oak 110 1 11 , were., O tte raise the men or l ev Y from the Parish ; ,but that could no mote v;k e tl o efreo of finding the men, than one , coold 'terse drink though he should take hint In,ivu ost ter wilt (F laugh,). It was, h ow ever, nevi . o g ke . v elli t likg.,a man of: whom nobody sears. soil o f YthrP o, therefore, it was unne tis c" dig uier speak laugh). It was like tha 1 1 .° 1 horse, which had but one fault,' And 011 4 as P that it was dead-.,(a loud laugh 0. ,1( , ti f f unnecessary to follow it! further, Humane So ci ety may not have y et a rt , e and the Hon. Gentleman opposite rusY ‘ )(31 it, P i ll unless vive it by s om e pr o c e s s ( a lead latighl)' ever, the Hon. Gentleman would cant h e rer iv e 'p with saying merely th a t it deserves to coo 1.., he would be satisfied. It was said the P r ho e d sure - (the Additional Force Mt) bad n at unt ierlit cessful because the P a rish O ffi cers did "1 3 . t e dy. A t e it so as to proceed to enforce itimmeu tg , oo lileP e eti lay "six weeks in, their hands before t h e / stand it, much could not be-expetted eff",.,130) 0 0 Of their duty under it. The Bill pas , ",%,f A 4 l itt and nothin was heard of it till IV" 0 off „d when it wa g s supp a oied to he r eady ro f a 01 0 11, a spinning-jenny, like the machinerY °! ipe ee looms, with a sound like that of an known in Italy, Aft Auc,s resonant arbustu c itadist • not a sound was heard ; it was alum - 1 c on e - dit o now when the account of its prod uce appeared it h a d yit'lded only 2300 tfi cn of whom only 613 were tatted 1/r on Ibli for 411( to it Nin Shot Ott ;11 11 0 4k Plitt