The Sun. — London, England, 1804-06-19 00:00:00

of the e's'raeter or a requisition . , and partly of that tita rex :\s a tequisit i nit was :ncffiyienr, and as a a t tx cppres,i, e , ;old unconstitutional . . As to :le IR'r tax, there was no qu,stion as to burde n or no `len. but ] 'ether the burden was unequal or (coLd ; whether it was partial, or whether the whole C.,ontry was equally r ,xed. he end of e resent h.ma•l!:e would I,r, sme Parishes would th he p heavi. ll taxed, and others not all. In the manufacturing )''ars of the County met' y , here wages were high, the could not be procured, and the fines must be P"ul ; whilst, in others, the men would be raised witho at pay ii g any tax at all. It had ht en said, that .11 Officers had hero employed in a similar is . fore, in raising men fo. the Army of Re ; but there vt as a marked distinction in these cases; ney were employed ministeri IlYt whilst here tit, % were to he employed active] ; and w h en the '1111 , "•Yliy of which these men were possessed considered, it was to be feared they would find tha t the übvi .us way of making exertions to procure men, w 4 uld be the exercise of that authority.— Added to this, it the Bill passed, those men would Le chosen tor Parish Officers who were likely to Make the best Crimps, without regard to any other tconsideration. Ht considered the present Bill as 'lagous to the Quota Aft, which produced the Tea s ' v erY worst d escr i pt i on o f persons, and he saw no rt to suppose that better would result from the present ros„,ore. He concluded by expressing his deermination to oppose the Bill in every stage of its progress. C'"unel Citaassoßti went over some of his old arguments in opposition to the Bill. Mr. •LEII rose, antiesti dst repeate d cr i es f or t h e (P' Th e and in a allot , sp eec h supporte d t h e B il l . Q3e't was again l ou dl y ca ll e d f or , w h en r * 4 in-d A G Nrose.—He expressed great un ob gue ss to trude himself upon the attention of the the } Lust, it having been his intention to wait till Bill had received all the Amendments which were intended to be made in it, although no Amend menrs cculd remove his objection to the principles of the Bill. It has been stated, that he had said that the I resent am punt of our Military Force was amply sufficient fur the ex'gencies f the Cruntr st y. He ap pealed, however, to the 811 which ill remaned in the 11 ,use f or t h e consideration of Parliament,i for the alSpurpoie of repelling t hi s unfounded charge. It had als o been said, that he wished todeiay every measure for the D fence of the Cy ;ut the ve which he was as actuated w ountr b his perfed co moti nvidi by on that the op.setit measure was not so well calculated for the Defe nc been brou e of the Cnintry as that whi c h h a d ght forward by himself and his Colleagues ir , l . s IVIRIH s/ration. till He w a s t h ere f ore desirous tat measure, particularly as it invJlved Consti,u tional oriticiples of the highest importance, should at least stand over for consideration in another Session of Parliament. He begged leave .co recall to the re colled.on of the House, the circumstance s under which they were called to the discussion of the present mea sure : a Bill was brought. in to suspend the operation of the Army of Reserve Act, which appeared to receiv e the concurrence of Parliament : the Right Honourable Gentleman (Mr. PITT), with all that authority which belonged to4iim, and all that elo quence which he so eminently possessed, represented the necessity of making a large addition to the Dis posable Force of the Country, and induced a cunsi. derabte numbe r of Members to vote with him for postponing the discussion of the Army of Reserve for the purpo se of taking his Plan into con. sideration, which was then founded upon the idea of perpetuating the system of ballot. In the present measure, that idea had been given up as in efficient, and he owed it to himself and his Col leagues, to state the reasons w in their by they p ersevere d opposition to this Bill. He had had the happiness to hear it stated, that the amount of our Military Force was sufficient for the purposes of the Country, and that the exertions of the late Admini stration had, during the last year, been immense. But experience did not warrant their forming any expec tation that men could be procured if the present hill was passed into law. During the last year 100,000 men had been drawn from the population of the L entry, whilst at the same time there was abundant employment in trade; the deficient in the ordinary Recruitin g had been y great, and they could not therefore expel that this measure could be effiCienr ab , ve all, thy should not forget that they had a free Cons:itution, and he dreaded any change in t h e manners of the P eop l e , which might eventually take place, by iitfu-kg that sort of o syste m wi s now attempt e d to b e erected. It wish was which his alw a y s to k e' p alive the principle of ballot, whiei app,,,r,d to hi m to he a fair and equitable method. ohj -tart] also to converting Parish Officers into ecriii to g Offs •ets lat e , whi c h h e conceived was calcu d to pr duce the most injurious consequences.— He contended that if this Bill was carried into exe. cution, it would limit the recruiting for the Army taot fairs99o° men annually. Those men wh o f ormer l y , outte wakes reserve to , surrendered themselves with_ on thei r Recruiting Officers would now be guard; ih e y would know ;heir value, nor would they ever think sixteen guineas for of a ccept i ng a b ounty of entering i nto the Regular Army When they can obtai n twelve guineas for entering into the Army of Reserve w a_rds f or extend 'and tw ent y more a f ter . extending their service s to t h e R egu l ars . this measure would be nan b producti ve o f great dis tage tto the Regular Ar m y, w i t h out pro d uc i ng enefi., It has been said, that this was a mild H m e asure; but the measure first proposed by she Right tourable Gentleman was rigorous and severe ; h r e Principle of mildness which pervaded the Bill wa s forward by himself and his colleagues, sure, afterwards infused into the present mea vs", and now Mi:iisters claimed to themselves to the merit of that mildness which artilY belonged Zthe late Administration, in which the characters o l ithis measure had been changed from rigour inefficiency The alteration which had been triad s I • by which the proposed Force was to be jtleig:n_nllndied during Peace, did not do away his ob. `u s to the measure, as they should then have •w cs • Militias instead of one, without any pr at . Ilea' g"od resulting from them. He understood, Il i ! s aid, that some comments had been made upon the li ne o f h oweve r leavinghe that condutt to the judgment of others; , ne w the motives which actuated his con. , dun, and he t r u s t e d t h ey w er e suc !i as 'met , the approbation of his own mind. He consi. tiered the measures brought forward by himself -and his Colleagues in Administration, as preferable to the present, which he should .therefore oppose. Mr. SHERIDAN rose, and spoke nearly as fol. l ows Sir, after the very able speech that has been made by my Right Hon. Friend who has just sat down (Mr. ADDINCToN), on the merits of this Bid, I should not have thought myself called upon to say any thing in addition to it, had it .not been for some ob. servations that fell from another Hon. Gentleman (Mr. CANNING), to which I wish to advert. He did not confine himself to the merits of the Bill, but went to more important points. He replied to arguments, to he sure, but they were arguments that were never urged in this House, but merely the creatures of his own brain (a laugh.) Among others he assumed that the present measure has been held forth as the test of his Right Hon. Friend's abilities (Mr. PITT) ; a thing that, as far as I recoiled, has never been alledged in this House. He says, that he will not ter his Right Honourable Friend beside him, though, perhaps, he has the greatest esteem for him of any person in the world, and he has coin_ pared his atr,chmesit to the Right Hon. Gentleman h with the attachment which I feel for my Honourable Friend near me (Mt. Fox). I certainly do feel a very great attachment, as ascribed to me by the Hon. Gentleman, though I shall certainly not flatter him. He will allow, however, that my attach ment is somewhat longer than his has been, and perhaps on that account stronger and more tried.— My Hon. Ftieial has been my first and only political connexion. He has said, that he would wish .hat his Right Honourable Friend were more ably sup ported. He may be sincere, but more severe sa. tire could not be pronounced on his own Party, especially upon those woo had the political prudence to retain their places ( /dish). He has expressed a curiosity to know how it was possible for us not to quarrel, when, upon a division, we got together in the Lobby ? But certainly it would be a thing Nu:il ly curious to ascertain how, upon the same occasion, he commenced qua' telling with those on the same Bench with him (a laugh). For the Rt. Hon. Gentle man ought to recoiled, that the Noble Lord who sits near him (CASTLEREAGH), m.iy upon some occasion find a difficulty which of the two strings he is to ap. ply to his bow, and this may be the cart e of rime disputes ( a loud laugh). I did support the late Mi. nister, I confess, because I thought I saw in him hattachment to the Constitution, and the best interests of the Country, and I was extremely sorry that my friends near me did not think on th; ; point as I did. But every body knows in what manner he came in to office, and how he went out of it. To him his coming :nto Office was a SACRIFICE, and his gong out a triumph. The- Hon. Gentleman said, that tic !ate: Minister hadcommenced a sysiocaloie opposit ion immediately after his retirement fsomsOffice, and he commends him upon that account ;' oat then, what in this case noes he applaud ? He certainly applauds him because he did nut pretend to support the Ad ministration sitting unsuspiciously behind them, and ostentatiously exhibiting his proteChlion. He did not, on a Motion of Censure, shelter himself under a goes tih;n of Adjournment ; he did not in this manner Commence his opposstion under the insidious mask of nd..hip; and therefore, in all these respetts, he is dcsery log of the Hon. Gentleman's praise —(a cry of " Hear!") But if' he does applaud the late Minister for such conduct, what does he think of the Right Hon. Gentleman who sits near him (Mr. PITT)? Is not this the severest satire that could possibly be cast upon him? It certainly is ; and the Honourable Gentleman's wish, that his Right Hon. Friend should be more ably supported, certainly catne from him with peculiar propriety. But lie gave the late Minister great credit for the manner in which he went out of Office, and complimented him by saying, that this was the best act of his Administration; and why was it SO Because, no doubt, he had in the most Constitutional manner gone out of office, when he found that a considerable minority of the House of Commons was against him. But if he is thus lavish in the praise of the four Gentlemen who went out, what does he think of the six who still remain with him ?—r A cry of " hear! hear! hear!")—lf he thinks that it was proper and !nag nanitnous conduct in those who went out of office, he must certainly consider those who remain with him as a mean and shabby set, who had not the virtue nor the spirit to imitate their Colleagues—(cries of " hear !")—However, we have this consolation, that his praise is certainly sincere, and I hope that he will give his Right Hon. Friend a hint to imi tate the example of the late Minister, who retired from Office when he had a Majority of 37. His Right Hon. Friend had not, on' the last Division, a ;vlajority of more than 28, and on this night he will most probably have still less. A friendly hint, therefore, to the Minister, might not,. at present, be amiss —(a laugh).—The Hon. Gentleman said, that he himself ardently wished for an Administra tion on a broad basis, and that none lamented more than him, that it had been found impossible to ac complish this objea. I do sincerely believe it, and certainly none of the Right Hon. Gentleman's Friends but must lament sincerely his present situ. ation, when they consider what lie might have been, and see what he now is. But in every situation, he is determined to stand by his Friend, and more especially when he is placed in what he calls a post of danger. The post is certainly very insecure, and I have no doubt the Honourable Gentleman himself does not think that the Administration will last any long time, and more than that, I believe he does not think that it ought to last.-- I certainty have the strongest sttachtnent to my Honourable Friend (Mr. Fox), but I scarcely think that I would go quite so far as the Ho. nourable Gentleman has gone with his, were I placed in similar circumstances. But, however, he has followed his Friend in Office ; I follow my Friend, whom, though not in Office, I see sur. rounded with glory and honour, and who, though he has not a Place in the Cabinet, is honoured with the ap lause of the fortune and patriotism of the Country. I see him in the situation of all others most gratifying to his feelings and in genuous nature, restored to the society of those, or rather they re stored to his, who ought never to have dripped their connexion with him. High as my Honourable Factid has stood always in the estimati on o f every , tni.n of talents and liberality, and in the afreaions and venerations of his Country, he ha .never been, in all these respects, placed upon an eminence so high as that upon which he stands at the present moment. The Hon. Gentleman, hOwever, it appears, did nor come into ,Administration without . some terms. The management of the Foreign Aft - airs displeased him : well, the office was given to a different per son. I was disposed to have a high esteem for the Noble Lord who held the office of Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and I am truly sorry, on that ac conot, and on account of the friends with whom he is more immediately conneeted, that in resigning that Office, and accepting an inferior Place, he has signed his own condemnation with the Public. But the Hon. Gentleman was also displeased with the I Admiralty, and Lord Sr. VINCENT, of whom so j high . a charader had been formerly given by his Right Hon. Friend who sits near him, was re moved, and his . place given to that mighty seaman, Lord ME L V IL L E (a loud laugh). The manage ment of the War Department also displeased him, and this place was given to Lord CAMDEN, for whose experience I am afraid little can be said. The Ad. ministration, the Hon. Gentleman contends, was by these means quite changed. But out of the ten persons which composed the former Administration, only four have retired. Does he then consider the six who still remain as nothing ? He said that he wished his Right Hon. Friend had abler supporters ; and certainly the wish is not surprizing, if this be his opinion of the six who chose to keep their places. However, the House will recollect that the four who have retired are those of whom the Right Hon. Gentleman had given so high a character on a former occasion. He considered none more fit for the management of Foreign Affairs than Lord HAWKE,BURY, except my Hon. Friend (Mr. Fox), anti gave charaders to the rest of a similar descrip. lion. But he said not a word of the six who have chosen t c ,, ntintie in their places; and it was better for them that he did not, since those to whom he gave such high characters had sn grievously dis appointed him. Of the four who have succeeded to the four who have gone out, the Right Hon. Gentle. man has said nothing ; and certainly it was so far fotrunate, for had he panegyrizad them, it must have been a had omen. I have therefore no doubt at all that these Hon. Gz.ntlenten ha, e come in under an express stipulation fiat the Right lion. &rifleman shall not give :hem characters. Give us places, they have saio, give us tebbons, give U 3 any thing, in short, hut in the name of God give us no chataders (a loud laugh).--- ['he Right lion. Gentleman, in compli ance tth these stipulations, has very prudently de_ dined saying a wool in their praise. The Rt. Hon. Gentleman (Mr. CANNING) used to say, away with me inures, and give' us the men—it is not the harness that draws the cart, but the horse. Very well, I have no objection to The Ministry have got six new ones into offic- ; six and six, a double set of horses, I atimi• ; but the Rt. Hon. Gentleman will recoiled, rho the four Cabinet Ministers who have come into Office, have rot only to draw the cart, but the six heavy lumps who could not leave their places. (A loud laugh). Now, Sir, certainly, if he sees any thing in such an Administration that calls for respect from himself, or confidence from the CoUntry,'he has not that proper feeling for the honour and dignity of his Friend which he ought to have. The Hon. Gentleman has made some extra ordinary comments on the Bill—(Mr. SHERIDAN here, by searching among his papers, seemed to have lost some of his notes).—The Rt. Honoulable Gentleman smiles ; I dare say he cold be very g l a d that I had lost -my notes—( A laugh). He sa ys that, in arguing upon this Bill, , ve have not sufficiently considered the situation of his Right Hon. Friend, and the circumstances in which he is obliged to act. The situation of thing s in the Country, at present, renders the procur ing a great number of mcn to serve, an ad of dif ficulty, and this was to be considered true; but was the Rt.Hon.Gentleman disposed to make such allow ances for the late Administration Did not his Right Hon. Friend, while out of office, comedown, and without considering the circumstances of the Country--did he not demand that some efficacious measure for raising men instantaneously should be adopted ? The RoHon.Gentleman also tells us,, that every man had raised his expedations too high; and therefore, that it was owing to himself if they were disappointed. But let me aak the Rt.Hon.Gen tleman, who raised these expeetations ? Did not his Right Hon. Friend attack the weakness of the late Ministry, and promise us some measure of ex traordinary efficiency ? Is it surprizing that men should exped something great, some Minerva out of the head of this political Jupiter? But In ! instead of a Minerva, he now presents us with nothing but a feeble ricketty brat, which it will be impossible to keep alive !—lt is impossible that this Bill can raise men ; it can only operate as a partial tax, as a con. fiscation where there is no crime, and as a penalty where there is no delinquency. It is impossible that even the framer of the Bill can suppose that it will be efficient for procuring men. He only wants money. But suppose for a moment, that it should be effica. cious, contrary to all expectations, and that the framer should some morning be as much surprized to hear that the men had been procured, as he was upon learning the small number of principals who served after being drawn by Ballot, he would be reduced to extreme difficulty, for he would not know how to procure Officers for them. Again, suppose he should even succeed in this last point, and that the second battalions were joined to the first, the consequence would be, that the exertions of the men in the first, to gain over those of the second, would go near to destroy all the discipline of the Army ; this Bill ought, in fall, to be entitled, " A Bill for the Destruaion of Discipline in the British Army." Before I sit down, I shall shortly advert to a point that has of late been a good deal canvass ed in this House, I mean the enlisting for a limited time. This is an experiment worth trying, especi. ally in the West India service. This is no new scheme ; it has often been considered, and the Pub lic have a right to claim that the' trial should be made. Mr. SHERIDAN then proceeded to make some observations on the principles of the Consti tution, with resped to a Standing Army, which he considered, when raised to a great height, might prove dangerous to a free State. Here he made some panegyrics upon the peculiar spirit of the People of • • • • f „ • r. : , • this Country, who were abte and wilting to defend the selvesa ; He 'AS . 6a . cli!crted,,to ,the exclusiortOt his Hon. Friend from the Cabinet; and said,,t,hat af ter the glorious example of patriotism displ2yed by :in Illustrious Personage, about the beginning of this War, it was impossible that he could exclude any person who was called for by the voice of the Coun try._ The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER then rose, and spoke, in substance as follows " Sir, I do not intend at this time to go.over all those.topics which have already been so often dis. cussed in this House. I mean oarticuls7le to ad. vert, however, to that objeCtion whit*: has been frequently mentioned in the coutet ee - the De bates On this Bill, viz, the view tO- - the subjeCt as it afieCts the Constitutional Rights and Li. betties of the SubjeCt. The Honourable Gentleman who has just sat down, has entered upon the affair with his usual eloquence, and has given us m a ny beautiful and gennine sentiments respeCting the cha.. radler of the People of this Country, their situation ; and their zeal in defence of that Constitution where the laws are equal to all, and where rank and fortune are ever open to the man of talents and the indus. trious. I agree with him in these general sentiments, and I also would call upon the People of this Country to defend those rights and privileges which they pos. sess in so high a degree, and that National Ltherty which has never yet been attained by any other nation on earth. I would call upon them to defend that poli. tical fabric which the wisdom of their ancestors hay gradually matured for them, which they ought to prize as their most invaluable gift, and which; per. haps, ,can never in any other Nation be pradically equalled. He has justly stated, what every man al lows, that the great security of this Country depends upon the spirit which must ever exist in such a free Country as this; that zeal which must animate the People when fighting, nut only for their glory, but for their existence. But though all must join him in these sentiments, few will be distosed to admit the principle in the extent to which the Hon. Gentle- • man seems disposed to carry it. For if I understand him, he appears to think that under any circuit]. stances it would be improper to extend our Regular Force beyond the limits to which it might be car. ried in ordinary situations : but in the present con vulsed stated of the world, when the example of France must compel other Nations to be on a foot ing with her, or bend beneath her military superiori. ty, in justice to the people upon whom the Hon. Gentleman has bestowed such eulogiumso large Mili. rary Force must be raised, in order to ensure their safety, and preserve their political existence. It is impossible, then, in the present situation of the Country, to exclude the idea of a great Military Force. The question comes, therefore; to be a ques tion of degree, and the point to be decided is, vhether we have now a sufficient Military Establishment, considering the existing state of Europe ? And if we have not, whether this Bill is likely to increase it ? That we have not a sufficient force it is unnecessary for me to argue, as this seems to be admitted on all hands. It is admitted not only generally, that cur Standing Army ought to be increased, but that there should be. some intermediate species of forcey which might form a counterpoise to the Regulars. Now then, as to the Constitutional ob. jeCtions which have been urged to the measure which is on the Table of the House. In a great part of what had been said by the Honourable Gen. tleman, he has perfeuly concurred with the Right Hon. Gentleman who spoke before him. Their arguments pointed much the same way, and it appeared that their great object} was to render an augmentation of the Regular Army as consistent as possible with the principles of the Constitution, by establishing a great 'diversity of force. The measure which is now before the House is intended to set these different species of forces upon their pro. per footing, so as to render them capable of be. ing of as great service as the nature of the Cohstitution will admit : the species of force which it recognizes are three, the Regular Troops, the Militia, and an intermediate Force which may serve for the security of the Country in case it 'be ne. cessary to send any considerable numbers of the Re gulars abroad, and to augment the Standing Army by recruiting. But the great question has been, waat is the proportion which these three ought to bear to each other ? Some say that the Militia is the pro. per Constitutional Force, and others even go so far as to assert that the Militia and the Regular Troops ought always to be balanced against each other. But the times in which we exist do nut permit us to attend so strictly to such principles as these, for we are first to provide men who may fight our bat. ties, and preserve the Constitution from perishing with the political existence of the People, and then we are to consider, how a Force necessary for this purpose may be so regulated as • not to afford any just grounds of alarm that the Liberties of the Sub jeft will be invaded. But suppose it were possible to preserve this balance in time of Peace, how is it possible to preserve it in time of War ? In time of War, troops must be obtained, and it is ut terly impossible that the proposed balance should be preserved in a manner compatible with the safe. ty and interests of the Country. What then comes_ of the arguments respeeting, the preference' to' be shewn to the Militia ? The Militia was said to be a desirable species of Force, because it must be offs. cered by Gentlemen of landed property, who have the greatest interest in defending their Country, and whose private fortunes render them independent of the Crown. But the experience of a century has taught us that we have nothing to fear from a Standing Army. Let us see, however, what has been said respediing the Militia by the Officers of the Militia. They have asserted that it is impos. sible to procure Officers of the proper description for the Militia, when their number is raised beyond the ancient Establishment of 40,000 men : with this admission then, can the Militia be, with any ad. vantage, carried beyond these limits ? Here, also, let me correa a misstatement that has been made with resped to the reduction of the Militia below the established standard. The answer to this is obvious : the Militia is reduced only to the level which alone is suitable to its nature, because when raised above that level, it loses its peculiar quality as a constitutional Force, being incapable of in; commanded by the qualified Of f icers. The Con. stitution therefore cannot be injured by the present