The Sun. — London, England, 1803-08-11 00:00:00

had had a regnlarOllicer of he must for his credit's sake,. have declared the place to be untenable, and delivered it up. He could , have wish. ed that his Right Hun. i.cmd over the way (the SECRETARY at WA it) had htenmore explicit upon one topic, he meant that respet.`ting . the Intention of Government to train a number of persons in each Parish equal to six times the number of the old Mi. • litia. , When it was considered, that from many parts of the Country the Regulars and the Militia might be withdrawn, it was important the defence of these parts should not be left. to the native eners gies of the . People, without' having a sufficient num. ,! 'ber to defend' them; It must be evident, that :Vo lunteers could not be reckoned upon as the same number of Soldiers ready for idiots. Many persons , came forward as Volunteers, who, from age or ha bit of life, were in a great measure incapable of ac tive service, for which reason he thought the Vo lunteer Service ought not to preclude the training of others. NO diredirnis appeared' to have ' been given with resoett to forming the Volunteers , into particular Classes; it seemed to him that the same • i system of classification which was pointed our io The Bill, should be pursued with relic& to the VO. lunteers. He thought that it would be better that young and old should not he placed' in: the same company, hut that the young - men, who were better capable Of active service, should be placed in diS. Lind companies. If the Bill 'was carried into effcd, Government would knoW exadly the - num,. her of men in each Distrid who had been trained to arms.; but under the Volunteer • sys. tem, that could not be knoWn, , as the Volutiteer consisted of persons of all ages who could not all he capable of adive service. He thoUght very highly of the Volunteer System, hut - he wished 'to protest against givitig..up all the advaotages he had pointed tout .for the sake of that system. With resped to sherallosion which had been matte to the Vo unteer Corps formed of Gentlemen-of high rank, he was convinced that no degree of spirit would he Want ing on the part of those Gentlemen ; but hiS sedinn., to the isrunatien of such Corps •the Consideration wog consideration of the influence possessed by each of those Gentlemen, by means of o Inch, in ,, reatl of formin g one Corps of goo men, they might raise 5 or 60Q0. There was one circumstance, to which be wishes.: particularly to call the attention of Mi . - nisterssand that was with respeCt to furnishingarms :to the numer.•us bodies of men who had coma for ward in delenee of their Country ; if they totildnOt provide one species of arms they might 'another. conclud2d by paneiyrizing in warm terms the :spirit displayed in the Country, and the detertnina. lion evinced to resist 'the Enemy With the utmost vigour and eft' & - • Mr.' ARCHDALL commenced upon some of the tilts -creations of Mr. W !1St:111M% VAqiiie wit he said Was generally displayed to inkJst advantage on the wrung side of a (pest ion. The measures alluded to could not have been bronght: forward till the spiiit ( 4 the Country was in unison with that of Parlia. neut. Ile did not think the einduet:of the Right Eon, Gentleman, and those who aded with him, had been calculated to give elf. d to the energies of the Public. Upon the King's Message respeding Ireland, the Right lion, Gentleman opp 'sed the films of the House to the measure proposed upon that occasion, in' 'allusion • to which he could not litlp supposing a case of a father informing hiS chil -4,i't,l•Ahat his housewas 'fire 'and required their as. s ' stu iee,. who, :in- return, -' determined that they "41 take twenty-four hours' toconsider °Mt. Mr. FRANC! ,S'• ctrl t, lie had no intention in to• address the House, ; to say any thing against tile Motion, huahe:meint to make a remark with to what foil from the last Hon. Gentle. than. had coDgratni,tea us on leaving the House for a few months in perteet unanonity : lie hoped no individual would leave the House with a spark 'of Animosity in hi; bosom, against- an y Membe of that Assembly. Btu he supposed that Hon. Gentle Man Lad greater reasou to be pleased that we were in poseessioo of some valuable. information with reseed To the pefence of,the Country. He was extremely i i"Por to hear that a Military Council was Aniut to he .formed, and he was .sate such :in esiSblish_ merit woutd bean objed'of much - satisfadion not ` ) .flir to the Hon. Gehtleman,but every thinking. man !It the. Country. Cotm e l 'CR e'o R said we were now about. to hCtStCRst a, panegyric on- those persons who are; • formed .iito Volunteer Corps, - but whose military prow , s. yet:Onknown to the- House ;• he there. tore thought the Motion preceded the labour and Na;our t h at oug h t to .ga i n it: F eWould ask every Member in tbat House, whether there was that merit attached to theV'olunteer Serviee of 'the (.:',untty which some Gentlemen's descriptive V wers h ave given to it ? these perso n s, now• the l ,""tary Def , :nders of the Country, had wi ves , cliff "iteu, and connexions' dear, to them, as hell "' the ir ilroper:y, ail of which brought them tO, a ' sLosC of ( heir holy to themsefstes as well as the Go-. j , for they well knew, if the Government he, mercy o t - ts— • cb'elts so o t . A . to them; t • , .m; will become the noseraole orstru : writs of a lawlessß pleasure, that ‘ anditti ' who could feel'-no did not 'rt .- Ise in every art that would 4 1 . 1tVIC tile feelings . of the virtuous, and disgrace the name of Society. Where then is there - an occasion f or praise ? Men now felt. as they ought to 4 ). ia for themselves .; let them negled the Govern !nem,' and their happiness is gone ; let them relax the necessary service they are called upon to per.l °r mt the dwellings will brCOMe the slaughter . houses of Frenchmere . --all happinesi is gone,W4en t he English l o s e si g h t .o f t h e i r , former s re. ancj spirit greatness., l'his is a trying moment, the =ore- d o not tre a t M en as Chi l dr en, an d pra i se "eft. before they deserve it :, if Frenchmen have the folly to venture on our Shores, Englishmen must gain the . Laurel by the sword„ . not by any an. feriae paradethis was his candid opinion : with rc tPe • to'the prai.,e to he bestowed, he should now laY What h e t h oug h t o f them - when called into the "e,ids to repel- a merciless • f oe : an d h ere ,h e m u st t g i 've th in the ge n ui ne . tr ib ute o f an unb i assed m i n d , di'l4t whenever the day c'-mes, that the•two Nations ‘n,„e the . , ll' Ilt or Couloir on our Milli Shores, tngli I - r b linen Will conv ince of their mad. ss., n the attempt to invade us, and add d Miltlary tic v 411 1 e Name th at h as f or C entur i es b een t h e " •.• • • ut •► F ureign one, After ,these perpark3 on the impropriety of tile - sr Motion, by would call the attention Of the House 'to those brave men on. der General GE INFI ELD, who recently distinguished themselves, and who ought to receive the Thanks of the House as they had fought - for the• Laurel, and therefore were entitled to it—yet no men. tiou had been made of these men's services.— If the Motion had gone to the' praise of merit we had witnessed, then he should be the first to give his vote to, support the Motion. The Thaoks about to be given by the House Would have a bad effect with those persons, who have often observed this:species of,compliment, but have not received it. it would also 'have an unfavourable effect upon the Military of Ireland, to. whom the Motion was part ly.diretted, as the House had not thought prOper to express their Thanks : before - . It would not, in his mind, be so well to involve their , ap. probation in the Thanks of the House to those Volunteer corps ,who are not yet entitled to panegyric, not having- had an opportunity of she. Whig their courage. Notwithstanding many observations had been made by several Honourable Gentlemen in the HouSe on his Miliiary.Remarks, and his having been repeatedly called a Military Lecturer, that Would by no means deter him from re peating those things which arose flow. long experi ence on the Continent. He should, therefore, make an observation on German taaics i and also acknow ledge, that he once admired the German Army ; but he must confess, he at present. admired the British AtmY. • The Hon. Gentleman expressed his high' opinion of the Military talents of the King of Pr us. sia ; ated after a few remarks'on.theregulation of his forces, observed, that he Was fur haViog an increase of the regular Army in this. Country, he had an op portuoity . of knowingthesincerity of the Regulars, at a period, when . they were tried in every- way, by the art and wickedness of ,Inaey disaffe6cd per. Sons who wrote circular letters to them in every corner of the Country, to poison their affettion, and destroy their duty to the King. But he believed That every letter received by these brave fellows was imat,:d rely given to their ,Officers, with a pro. mist of faithful duty to them and the Country. He had. to oh erne that a Morning Print had stated, that Governmeot were itch.: provided with sufficient arms for the voluncternig service of the Country : had he made such a remark, it weitild.have been objefted to; but it this statement 4' , 115 true, he thoughtit necessary that every Gun-maker front one end of the kingdom to the other should be immediately ordered to .41)ply Government with thearms wanted, He was starry at such a moment as the present, that an Illustrious Personage (the PRINCE of WALES) was not employed as a General of the VOlunteer Corps : he being an objeft of universal esteem and admiration, - the, - people would feel an enthusiasm to serve tinder his Comma n d, and this would also relieve the Duitit.of YORK from much business, as it is impossible for that Noble Duke to give his at. tention to the. voluntary service, fr om . h av i ng t h e care of the regulars under him. 'With respect to the Officers belonging to the East India Service, who he tsoderstood had volunteered their services toGovern. anent, he thinight they might be :rendered very useful in the Volunteer Corps,• till Government could em. ploy them in another way. It had been observed by an I ion. Gentleman of that House, t hat those Gentlemen who were acoth.inted with a warm climate,' might be sent to the West. Indies, where their services would be highly valo ibis, .and prevent the sending of . Regiments unaerpainted with a warm climate, who w 4 mlci soon perish with disease : but this would break the spirit of those Officers, and prove very hurtful to the Eist India Service.— He must again repeat., he did, not approve of the present Volunteer Corps': in his mind, Government should have said to the First Class,. " ,You young men of the first class, we wait. your eery icei— you must tl}er4hre ,go, :ant we will provide for your families—but we must have you." .Not_ withstanding he had ; been called a Military Lec turer, yet he would observe, that we never, were in. great danger of being invaded while the French. were : engaged in a Continental War.— From the Peace. of Campo Formio,witls,the Au. strians, the latter did. not 1 0$e a moment , but set a b o ut tilting up their army, ~as the Archduke eon. sidered the..reace insecure.' The French know. ing the Austrians were lifeline(' with a strong military :force, thought it prudent not to make a n attack on them. - It was these Continental 6.,i ons b e tieeen diffeeent Powers that prevented the Invasion Of this \ Country. The Hon. Gentle. man paid several compliments to different Mem. hers, as to the temperate 'manner of disethising the impettant .questions which, often came before t he ; enhi,he "Was satisfied chat whatever differ. of opinion existed in the Fiouse, on, political no one 'would cittry to his pointS,place of retire. merit for the Summer, the least animosity towards his political oponen:s. Civerhe It i'Ott explained, as to the Officers in the East India Company'sServiee. 'Colonel'Cu At . )• Fort n explainedh 6BURY said, beforelie addressed _ A. the e.OO the Motion, . he Was induced tO . Spc3 1 13 11e ' remaik of the Right Hon: Geti tlem-tn (Colonel CRA.U.FORD), as to the danger of invasion in-this Country on a former occasion : Ire was sure the Country was Irt as great a danger of invasion at the period mentioned by the Hun. Gen. tleman, if not greater than at the present. Ile had observed, that- the French Government had only a Continental Truce, but if that Hon. Gentleman will call' his attention to the affairs of the Continent, he most acknowledge that this Country was in more danger at that time than at the present. The House must observe, that a War between this Country and France generally produced a Continental War ; since the war in the, spring 5799, :the French had sent an . army' into Germany, Switzerland, and the South of Italy, and_ various other places ; but to notice the Naval strength of France, and in doing so he could venture to affirm, that there was a greater naval force in that period than the present, anti though there was danger now,there was greaterdaoger then. ---But ell this spews' us tine necessity !ti guard against the present danger. He was ready to allow that the Thanks of the Houses ought not to be given on trifling occasions ; • but this was not a trifling occasion. We were placed in a, situation now when it was - not right to depend on the Army .or Militia, or indeed, on' any kind ofArgtilar Fatro t notwitb. ,trig tUty":'were heia,in great. esteeni Government. . Hii Lordship - concluded with observing, that this was not dcortimon case Of a Vote of Thanks for a successful Expedition ; it was a case in which the great body of the People had come forward with un. p.iralleled zeal to support 'the Country at a great and awful crisis. He, , therefore, perfealy agreed . with the Hon. Gentleman who had brought forward this. Motion, that the Volunteers were entitled to the Thanks which it, was now proposed to give them. Mr.. WM. SMITH said, though it • was not' his intention to give 'adired opposition to - the Mo. tion of, his Hon. Friend, - yet there were several reasons why he did not altogether approve of it. — In the first . place, though he thought very highly of the •Volunteer Corps, - yet he was not satisfied that they were sufficient at the present momenta He , would have preferred the Levy en Masse, under the. Bill which but been passed, which would have given a greater force, and. which would hsve afforded the means of making a consi derable addition 'to the - Regular,Force if occasion required it. Another objection he hail to the Vo. lunteer Corps was, that from, their numbers they 'Would prevent Owe descriptions of persons from being'called out, which, he could'not but .consider as a subjed of regret :. for though the Volunteer, wets aCtuated- by the most. Laudable and patriotic motives, yet frOm their situation in life, from their habits, they certainly were not so well qualified for the fa. eigues of a Campaign as the sturdy Peasantry of the Country. The Hota. Gentleman then adverted to the mains of arming the Country, and said, that it 'was not• surprising if ,Government should not have Arms sufficient for all the Volunteers who oft' red their Services, because they could not have expected that it would have 1);:en necessary to atm so large a portion of the Country, and therefore it was not to be expeded that they should have previously provided such an immense quintity or Arms. -Ile, however, agreed, with tee Hon. Colonel,, that Government should now use every exertion in their power to procifre a sufficient numbeaof Arms. With regard to the present Motion, he 'admitted it might be politic, but what would be theiy feeling, if upoti a future occasion they should have to view with re gret the resolution they had come to this certain ly was an event of which he • bad - no apprehension, but still bethought that ParliaMent ought not to be precipitate in voting their Thanks. Indeed he was convinced that the, Volunteers would feel theMselves more gratified if the Thanks of the House were postponed till they. had had an opportunity of de serving them. He again expressed his apprehension than the numbers of Volunteers would be so great as to render it unnecessary , to call out the Population under the Defence Bill, the consequence ,of which would be,' and in some cases now wai, that while men tiduated by the most patriotic: motives, were vo luntarilyendeavouring to acquire military discipline, they were eurrounded and laughed at 'by a set of worthless young fellows who ought tO• be them selves called out, but whn . were excused from the, numbers who voluntarily offered their services.Upoe the whole, lie should not certainly oppose the Mo tion—it would undoubtedly be very invidious ; but at lie same time could not help expressing his wish that the Horn Gentleman had not brought it for ward at preSertt. Mr. SHERIDAN sett], • : that although by the cour tesy. of the House he was 01 . 6E10 tQ a teply, yet he should not have trespassed upon the House : „ pan t his occasion, if it had not been for some a: re a allusions which had t,.rn made persenally to him. When he brought forward : this MOtion, he certainly did not think from the manner in which he worded it, or from the observations with : which he lid int - ulaced it, that any difference of opinion could have ensued.; be ought not however to have been surprised that one Right Hon. Gentleman who rewired 24 Wars delay before' he could mike up his Anhui to adopt measures. for the salvation. of Ireland, should have thought, five hours 'discus. sion necessary upon a question of this kindsas-In the . course of the - discussian some perso n a l a - applications had been made to 'him in a way of which be could not but complain, by an Hon. Friend who sat near him. The 'Hon. Gentleman to whom he 'alluded, said, he would give his assent to the M )tion, if he (Mr. SHERIDAN) Would assure him that he had re, ceived a satisfactory answer - from Ministers' upon two paints; first, whether the Military Council which bad • been recomtnended had been adopte4l.- Upon this pOint he wished to observe, that though he hadseettainly 'supported the Motion for the ap. pointment of the Council, yet he did not consider it as a matter of that importance, that Ministers would be unworthy of support if they did not adopt' it. He did not hold- any such language when the sub. jed was under diseuSsion. Since that • time he re ceived some information from a person — whom -he must consider as the highest authority in the Coma. try, which had. considerably shaken his opinion up on the subjeti, and which now induced him rather to think that the adoption of such a measure wes, unnecessary, and that it . might even beam. tended with greet mischief. He, however, cam; plained more of the other question which had been pressed . upon him, because it wits upon ia subjea of much greater delicacy than the other. The Hon. Gentleman Milo had proposed the ques tion, knew ,perfedly well • his attachment to, and veneration for the Illustrious Person alluded to, but he begged to tell that Hot). .Gentleman, that he was not to lie schooled and tutored a; to the manner in which he was to discharge hia duty to His Royal Highness. lie,was not to be informed by. any per son, whether he was to Make that a condition for supporting Ministers' in the most trying and awful crisis this Country had ever experienced. He cotu plained the more of this_ mode of questioning hims because the Hon. Gentietnali knew that he was the last Man that ought to arraign the conduit of Mini. stets upon that subjeCt. This was a subject o 4 Pe caliar delicacy, and one upon which' he•did not wish to enlarge. He -was sure the offer of his Royal Highness had excited bet one feeling throughout the Country, and that aula justice had been done to the noble and patriotic aentiments by which His Royal Highness had been .actuated. This was a subject which, however, he did not wish to plasm:, and he was sure the Pataict otWeanas would rather 110ibe ES- a Privates, in the rank* than wit; the feel. - jags - 4111 e Ceiontry aua moment 13oitltelpi-eetht :such a discosonto The H-ot, (_;eloviel corliplaioied that he had .endeavoured to ,prey,ent Milat.lry Piss cussions ; he had'ruit indeavouOted to' prevent them, he had only claimed a right to give his eepinion op. on the general eubjed of the daence ill the Coontryo He, confessed that he was not very fond ofthe'peor. lopgati an of Military discussioos he had heard many of theM, and they certainly had not teethed to inspire:him vvith any great confidence in .fylilittie ry men: instead of obtaining any •information ft oti! them, they all entertained different opinions. opota every part of the subjed Neon whieh they spoke 'instead of concurring in the regular military lock:. step, every Officer almost entertained differene Sete, timents. It was therefore with. a - view to their credit that he had endeavoured to stop these Pis - . cussions. The Honourable. Colonel, however, (lid not approve of this Motion, because they were thanking Volunteers -for having 'only done their duty, and then the Hot). Gentleman he,i lavished a great deal of praise on the Regulars ; and 'what was the ground upon, which he had given them thit praise ? Why .he' said, at the time of the Mutiny the Jacobins had written round to every .Regitnent to eeeite them toinsurredion, but that the attc,opt had failed. So that the whole of the merit to which the Hot. Gentleman gave so 'much erahe was, that the Regulars dicrnot'upon that occasion join in the Mutiny—that they had not turned, Traitors to their Country. If this was the greatest praise which the Regular : Celonef ceuld- give to toe Regular Troops, he had better perhap s be s ilent u p on the subjed. The non. Gentleman had then art:ld:tot hlfn on the, ground of what :he conceived to 4,e inconsistency 'in Iris ceinduel, in too .4 I t.A;i 03 Ministers now, because he had been in the habit of attacking the former Minisons. lint he begged to observe, that the Gentlemen who had opposed the former Ministers had nut beet) in the habit of throwing out upon .all oeceeions sinuations against - Ministers—they brought for. ward distinCt charges;--they called for particular inquiries—they met Ministers fairly, instead of making general observations which were in .apable of receiving a distind ans..ver. But the Right lioni; Gentleman had asked, g 4 were ohey not - , if they thought Ministers were ailing wrong, to tell the Country of it ?" 'His answer was” Yes, but ter it be done upon distind grounds--let a fair charge he brought forward but they should not deal in iv-tier:ll insinuation and invedives,which of course could only receive a general answer." Theßight {Lan a ; Gen. tlernsn 'seemed determined to maintain the saint kited of irregular warfare in Parliament which recommended in the field ; he never presented a regio. lar front to the Enemy, but was always popping at them from.hedges and ditches; he was alway s bozo zing in. their ears, without ever venturing upon a fair and open attack. He was however, glad to see the Right Hon, Gentleman furbishing up his old Op position arms,and reviving hisold Oeposititatl tactics, • becaue it looked as if he expeded, what he sincerely hoped he would have, a long Opposition campaign to tarry on.—l - le heartily discl a imed this mode of opposition, and was very anstmus that the Old Op.'. position should not in any degree be confounded 'with the new one. The members of the Old Op. position might say, with a little varittien, , what 1,,,a been s`ald when ohere was a rivalship, between two public.-houses called the I'vlagpies, on. Hounslow Heath, We are I;ie Opposition on the right, " The others leave sat k ip The nondurable Colonel had, said, that the PR tet ott of WALas ought, to be put at the head of tl e -Ituty en Masse, and that it would be a noble ct m loot for His Royal, Highness to have. But he togAed the House to consoler what was the kind of tOo tn . inand which they wished to bestow upon his Pat at Highness. The Right Hon. G eolenotti (4.srlr. WtN aroma). had deelated his opinion, that this Force should never be calleded. together, but that rl,ey ought e rclr , in their own di,t rift, tto.v . arry on, an;t, peeler la %v at og.tinst, the Enemy, liarosing e tiod tic, ing, at theM,fture hehirel hedges, trees, &Oe. to the first place, if this advice was 0 e„ ie ., , 0, a .'•. ry small part of the Levy en Meso. coeld lero . an oppot-tuntry of ading, becalbo it ,A`A , 9 01 !(-1 I.)q. supposed that the Enemy would march all over the kitigdomilut this was the gland command wiocla they wished to bestow upon the Put eof \VAL U, anti he was to be sent . roend the cse,untry, -posed, - to review his Afiny behind every liege in every ditth in the Country. An lion. Friend of his (Mr. SetiTit) had stated, that though iii., would not objed to the Mosiopoyet he thought the Volunteers Ought pot to lie thanked until they had done something. In his opinion they had alteedy done a great dealLoenough to entitie them to tit; thanks and gratitude of their COuotry---But dot non. Gentleman-said, that the -Volunteers were laughed at when they were training : if that were , the case, it was an additional reason why they, should have true proteCtion of that House; and when brave and patriotic men. were trainioz oloonstives for the Defepee,oftheir Country, and were laughed at by a set of cowardly worthless wretches,.,lte .wiShed that they should he enabled to plead the Vote. which he hoped the,liottse olCommens would come to that day, as ane atower to. the sneers of cowards 'Or traitors. trigurr'en'tsliad deed; used to shoo that the Country Watt in much greater . danger now t'ean it was in any part of the liot W a re e upon this Soloed it was unnecessary for hiin to co_ large, after the very able answer which had been given by the "Noble: Lord opposite to.him ; but he contended, that. this Country was ,in equal, il,not. • greater danger in 1798, because ,it must he recut. leeted that Ireland Was at 'that time invaded, saved almost by an accident. lolhat year 4a yet..ao men had been sent to. Egypt.; wished to koow : what would have-been the o9nsegoerce if they had been landed in Ireland, Which,was ee event at that time expedeti and apprehended. It should be re. colleded,thatthat :was the period of the.commence.- ment of the. Northern Confederacy,: th3l,indeed every point of viewtile danger wr•ts . Ministers ought . ;hen to liaivp had tecintr4e to ;Ail the means Oflie:lellce which 114 now adopted. This was not his opinion merely ; he veoutel as k t o le Right Houourable e,ntleman (Mr.NVYNDHAU) if he was not titer- its as great a panie - iibout the safety of the COuntry, as he was at Orefterit But His Majesty's Ministers did ,not then btlAit forward any measures adequate to the Pefincte.