The Sun. — London, England, 1804-03-03 00:00:00

aoalogons to the present, the Militia: In that Service, Parliament specified I.vhat money the Offi- Cers and Men should be paid, and also the number cf days the piivates should be trained and exercised, and he did notasee Why Poliiament should not be as distina and Specific on the saalljett of the Volunteer Service as that of- the iviiiitia ; but this, again, he did not mean. to discuss now, he merely threw it out iii paisingo , as a matter fit hereafter to be discussed. As to - the-means of instruaing the Volunteers by Field eflizzi - s and Adjutants -from the Regular -Ser vice, ise threw that out . for the consideration. of Mioistess ; he did not intend to produce any clause to that effea ; but unquestionably if he did not see more di s position • than had been hitherto shewn by nisSers to Make some provision for that purpose, he should feel it his duty to bring .forward a measure" for that purpose for the consideration of Parliament, not by way of clause it any for it would come make regularly.by waysolAddreas to His Majesty ; but he .wt- uld - be sat i3.fied to hear from Ministers. that the Volunteers should have the benefit of the inatruCtion ohOtileers detached item the Line, dur ing the period of pesinarreoodtity of. the Volunteers; tatitiihe; sasvan unwillingness in- Ministers to allow vaystty ahy Field .01ficer., fur thus instruaing the !Vcslanteets.• He should. noi, at present, .go into the grananci. of that. objeaihn., .The _Committee .world recolieet that the very first day he stated this mailer, be. accompanied his statement with a de- elaration - that he. did: not with: that such Of. • fleets should .be altrovided- for any Corps - who did not . expressly desire to have that species of instruction, and who should actually apply for nor did he propose this at all with any view • but that of such , Officers being mere temporary Assistants to: the Commanders• of the Volunteer .Corpt... Ministers said, that in many instances it 'was' done, and' the whole question was a- question sal'exothce it -must be desirable that the Volun. seers , shoield have the best •instruetion they_ possibly bold have,..and therefore, whether they should be Insrruaed•by.those who knew but little, or by some -wins knew northing of that which it was essential for ‘the -Volunteers to learn, was aquestion' which he did.riot know how • to argue. Whether it. was better to be •tannht by• those who have-ape-Ifeet knowledge of :he thing: to be learnt, or by those who • knew it jinoc-rfealpfor by those who did not knoW it at all,. -was. a thing which he-could not argue,. because his sniod- knew not how to argue that upon which it was unable. to conceive the applidation of an argument, sincenotbing could be matter of rational.argument upon which it was inconceivable how a doubt could be entertained upon: it ; and as .to the matter of cconotity,. tiro aysint so essential as that of know ledge fur the Volunteers, in order to make them efficient -in -service and most essential to'the safety of their Cauntry, anti when he. considered that this economy involved only a question of a few shillings per man, to enable such an immense • body as the Voitritecrs to he of eminent service to their Coons try, aial to withhold that instruttion which could alone in'tke them thus useful, for. the sake of saving such few shillings, was a species - of economy selocin did. nor etl;er into his -understanding. s CoMprehentliog it under the head of the gene ral aeile of. the expenditure 'of a War like the present, and compared with the general scale of our means of defraying that expenditure, great as that expeodituse iimst be, or ..considered with reference ro our -reritirces, and feeling that this expence may amount to - a .few thousand pounds, was that which, aans id s oiegs the utility of the measure on the one iharil•:: and the expenditure on the other, he knew ,nol'hoss , as Representative of the People, of thiS hound to adopt measures for their general 'welfare, could possibly regard-as a question. Mi. •Pisteissithemselves admitted that this instruction to !the Volunteers was desirable ;. but they said there but feiv instances in which the Officers so .anted could: be procured ; certainly- they would -biafew, if Ministers were determined to give them scolittle .eneouragement. :lie knew it was. impos to•over-rate the exertions -of Gentlemen of for aurioasai:siistinAiori in. the country, for-the purpose of rendering the Volunteers, as nearly perfect aa.posa siiale:Otesisuew no.limits• to their -zeal: and ardour, but that must - be confined- toahose districts in which they lniards-. whereas persons of . grat -skill and eminence 'might - be aunt!, who, from acombination of untoward circumstances, had been obliged to give sip n-career of glory in the; profession of arms, troth want-of aaprospea of advancement consistent -with alieirsige'or talents, and to retire into the obscurity adaocountsy v ill age , • in-ia state, if not of penury, certainly fah from: opulence, who could not transfer a .fanaily frtirron distant part of the country to which n eo b aa t ; a e iieedicfor the prudent purpose of that eco rioroy that.was essential to his existence, into anti,. o a f, 'where:his. settices might be rendered by way of i vro aioni Jo- others a and by which he might re nevi:and iikintlie that flame which was only clouded but not extinguished in his breast by pecuniary.disape poin ttnentii and add more laurels to his life, if this en_ eontagemeno were held out to him. This was not -an imaginaucharaCter that hewas drawing, he hadan op. pot tuoity:of koowing several such, one of whom.he hath opeortimity pf serving and of btinginginto a stateosaUreorhis talents liatLbeets eminently 'useful. liaving•expa; iateei most eloquently upon this subjeift, lotaaididicshoped th was no.objeaion behind against theVolunteera availing themseives'of assistance of suc h i ou s l eiise.value as.this, ,in such a crisis as the p-reSents!! He should he sorry, indeed, if any dd.- fiettity..ahould. stand . in the way of this most im paataraaataisinto upon which, however, he should not sa ys si n/orriare. at present, The next point WAS, that of - , „the, :appointment. of Officers of the Volun. iesav a aon a iaaahich the Right Honourable Qentle men Agreed :it. was better not to make any Legislative.: provision ; he -.originally thought so toOppaind :-the• only doubt with him was, whether something had not been rendered necessary - by the point, having been so much and so unnecessarily a urtier that the authority of the Legisla- Or; Might set-':the matter ats rest. Upon the 'sub:. jeCt ofaSignitig the Commissions of Officers in the . Voluniterso he thought the practice which had hi. therto been followed, that of giving them all the Sign' Manual,: highly objeetionaple, not only. be, tauSe! was so very laborious,' and in its 'nature produalve of unavoidable delay, insomuch that Of feers -were obliged to 'wait for months for their Commissions . ; but alio because the thing was,a4- ?olotely unnecessary, fur they might be under the same Regulations as the Commissions of the. Mil itia, which were signed by the Lieutenants of the Counties, except in cases to which the Crown did not assent. There : was another point on which 'he had the misfortune still to differ from the Right .Hon. Gentleman : he meant with regard to the propriety of making.regulations to discipline t he Volunteer Corps by means of Parliamentary provision, instead of leaving that matter to the dis cretion of Executive Government, and for regulating their attendance, and taking due care of their arms, &c. , He had prepared a clause upon that subjeft, and which he must still offer, for he, would venture to say, it was the general complaint of all Officers of Volunteer Corps,that there were some among them 'who, not for want of any good will, for that he knew the whole mass of them possessed in something almost equal to perfedion, but from those, ideas which were inseparable from all men who had not a great deal of experience, did not bestow on the office:of a Volunteer, that attention•which was ab. solutely requisite to complete that charaCter. There would beliusbandmen and there would be At tizans, who would chuse to think that they were Soldiers, somewhat sooner than their Officers might think them entitled completely to that citaeaCier, the con sequence was that they would appear only on some shewy day, when but little advantage was to be obtained from the . drill. He did not say the Vo. lunteers had not .done in general very well,,,but of this he -was sure, that in one half the time they took up at first they . would gain more than double the knowledge, for it was in this, as in every thing else, .it was after some knowledge was painfully b 0-lined that knowledge was easily and rapidly ac and without more and, fuller attendance, per. fettion was not to be obtained. He knew it was very popular at present to say, that the essence of the Volunteer System was to leave every thing to voluntary exertion, that there was no necessity to enact any thing, that the zeal oldie Volunteers would do every thing, that there was nothing to fear from their want of discipline-H-Isvluch of this sort of doc. trine might be at present p pular, but it was a species of popularity which a man who loved his Country and who gravely considered its true interest, would nor seek—He kne w the Volunteer Corps were a body of men open to good sense, and he was of opinion they might easily be persuaded in the bulk to assent to some measures of compulsion, not that they all needed compulsion to perform their duty, but because some of them did ; for it was not un known to any Corps,that there were among them some who were less often at the drill and less attentive when there than others, so that when - they did attend they not only manifested their own itnperfettiOns, but from the nature of Military exercise they must , of necessity impede the progress of others in their improvement; and then there was some levity to be expeaed from the age and habits of some of them, so that t o his mind moderate compulsion was in a considerable degree essential to . their attaining the height of military perfeetion, of which with attention they were capable.. He knew it was more popular to compliment them all, and to say that they wanted nothing, _but he thought that pursuing this course without enforcing.a . system by which they might be essentially improved, would be the highest imprudence ; and here there was more necessity for making some regulations than there had been in 'she first instance ; since Parliament had formerly enact. ed particular matters positively, and then said that - such other rules and -regulations should be adopted as to His Majesty should seem meet, thereby evi. dently conveying an idea that many things would seem meet to be done by way of rules and regula tions which.were not specified or pointed out by that law ; but to His Majesty's Executive Government nothing did seem meet to be done,beyond the strid provisions of that Statute, which amounted to a hint toParliament, by way of caution, that if they wanted any thing to bedone,, they must ena:i it specifically ; that if they trust to-the ExecutiVe Government to d o any thing more than was duly set down for them, e Parliament would be disappointed ; therefore, if there were any, Rules and Regulations at all neces sary,. Parliament must point them out, or they would never be adopted, for which reason lie had in hi s pocket a clause for this•purpose,which he should here. after offer to the House... There was a declaratory Clause in the Bill at present, -which related to the power of Resignation in a Volunteer, which, in the present condition of things, required one alteration, and that was:• to (Urn every . .negative in it into an affirmative declaration. A doubt had been once en tertained as to what was intended by the• Legis lature as to the power of Resignation of a Volun teer ; upon the opinion of the most eminent in rank, in the profession of the Law, not upon the Bench, and not ,more eminent in rank than in talents and abilities, nor inure eminent in either, than he. was for public virtue, and- all those private qualities which render a man justly estimable in life ; he -meant His Majesty's Attorney •General.' x That Learned .Gees lemangave an opinion upon the Elites,. lion , of a Volunteer's power to, resign. Atiother veryodistinguished Gentleman-gave an opiniOn di redly opposite • to it, accompanied with gre4 elo quence, and more solidity of judgment .thaittnight have been expeCted to accompany such diffusive elo quence, and the Learned Judges of the Court . of King's Bench determined: with the . opinion of , the latter- Gentleman, and .held that a.: Volunteer had , by Law a right to resign when lie pleased, and , without any condition : now this Bill was drawn by those who said nothing of.any doubt being entertained on this point while .the e thing was : doubtful, who declared that the opinion of the Court of King's Bench was so consonant to their wishes as to what the Law should be, that if they had . not so decided they would have brought in a Bill to make the Law so. Bat him did these very persons now declare that Law ? They now left the day in blank in' the Bill to be filled up by -the Committee ; and as' to the Law which the Court of King's Bench hach.cfecided, saying that a Volunteer might resign in any manner, and when he thinks pro, •per, without any condition, they said, that he shall be able to do, under certain conditions, what the Court of King's Bench had already decided he might do with ; out any condition whatevec—That the .person who theCotirt said might resign when he pleased, shell be able to resign within three weeks after he had given notice of his intentior,—That the point which the Coutt bad decided, was doubtful e that was to say , that a thing was doubtful after it was decided there " Queen's Nome, March 3, tgo4. " There is no material alteration in His MA JEST Y since yesterday, • (Signed) "L. PEPYS. "F. MILM AN. " H. R. REYNOLDS. " W. HLBERDKN." Au.tisioN was again last night made in the House of Commons to His MAJSSTY'S Indispo sition. Mr. GREY declares himself dissatisfied with the vague and ambiguous declarations of Ministerc, and expresied his intention of making some specific Motion on the subject in the course of the ensuing week. That there is some inconsistency in the conduft of Ministers is obvious—they tell us that His MAJESTY is rerfedly competent to execute all the fundions of his high office, yet the Prime •Minister last night says, ." that he . had'not had per "sonal access to His MAJESTY ;" but . l i e a dds, and the addition is important and consoling ; "that a bet ter criterion hard been afforded him whereon to found his opinion, he meant the concurring sentiments of all the five Physicians attending upon His MA JESTY." The Volunteer Bill was subsequently discussed in derail in the Committee. /Several Amendments and new Clauses were received,' and the Bill stands again for discussion on TuesdaY next. • WE can assert, from the most authentic information, that BONAPARTE has never desisted, .for a moment, from his Preparations to invade us—he has gone on continually . acconulating those preparations. The reason of his having done so, we 'can state as con.; fidently—several of hisCenerals refused to take corn. 'mands upon the Plan originally proposed, as totally inadequate to the objet to be accomplished—it was therefore' necessary to undertake the whole upon. scale of a very different magnitude—and - it . is' the immense preparations he has made which have , induced many to' join in the undertaking who - had' : before positively refused.—But we have been pre.' paring too ; and we have no doubt that the value' of - our preparations more than balances the advan_, tages he would have derived from a sudden and early at tack. • Lord NELSON'S Dispatches to the Admiralty, brought home by . Mr.. FALCON, are dated on the . 28th of January. At that time the French Fleet, as we yesterday stated, were still in Toulon Har bour. The report of its having since sailed cannot last upon any authentic information. Letters from Lisbon, of the t sth ult, state, that a further demand has been made by BONAPARTE upon the Court of Lisbon, for the . tiurchase of its Neutrality. The following is an Extra& of a Letter upon the subjea. : LLSZPK, FEB. 15. —Although it was generally supposed that Our Neutrality was consented to by the First Consul on condition of our Government paying him six Millions of Livres annually, and . three Millions in advance, yet it is now rumoured that this arrangement will not be ratified, Unless a further advance is made of I fall a Million of Cross. does.—According to the latest advice from the Eastward, the Toulon Fleet was ready for Sea. Died in ehild-bed, on Tuesday evening last, the wife of Captain JAmts M A CKENZIE, daughter of. the late PilrtisTotiE PowNaYl E , q• M P,, loc WindEcu. WE believe there was scarcely a matt Hcuse of Commons on Wedoestlay night who wa 9 of the not convinced by Mr, PtTT's arguutents utility of Volunteer Corp, and o f the propriety: of giving them further supp ort, and addition7l means of improvement. The question, whether an Armed Peasantry or a Volunteer Force upon its present footing, is best calcolated for the dang er , which threatens us, was thoroughly canvassed, • never was a point more decidedly established, than that_the species of Force which we now hea env Ont foot is that which is best suited • to the pres emergency. • If the objet were only to prevent the Irltintate .cuccefs of a French Army, in case it sh ould land it's this Country, we entertain no doubt that by the mea'a i s of an Armed Peasantry that objeCt would be effeae°4 but have we no intermediate points to look to ? pose the French should penetrate to London--wiLe h we refle& upon all the calamity and misery tech, must necessarily ensue from a success to th at exte° it is cold comfort to tell us, that ultimately 04 t' would be exterminated. What then is th e first li, jea to look to in case the attempt is mule to in/at, us ? Certainly to proteft the Capital. And does man believe that an Armed Peasantry, in the Cot u r t ties through which the French arts likely to attenlPg to penetrate, would materially protea ag 3i , i n e ,,, ° a March of the Enemy of 7o or 8o miles ? o ff ° "4 fend us against such a march, a large body arme men, who may be colleded, at any one or m°`.,•,. points, to oppose a stubborn resistance to ate row gress'of the invading army, is absolutely nece bs3ll ; That may be done by the addition of the Volonte,,eo Force to our Army and Militia ; but this cannot L'A done by Armed Peasantry, under no co mmana ,a : l rifting only a few miles from their own lialtitjtitt'',l;se,. It was asked in the course of the Debate, i a titer an Armed Peasantry had not done much i'Lber reselle and in America. Certainly ; but in (lei' of those Countries was that force employed to °P; pose a barrier to the progress of an Enemy to s• particular point, which is precisely what is ne1,115 sary to be dune here. .We do not believe that ' lO complete and ultimate conquest of Great 131.1 e 3 , has entered into the wild and extravagant Fc' fi f, - ,;:: tion even of BONAPARTE, but we are equa ll f.„ - fident that the Plunder of London has not ° 9l - 7 ,„ at tered into his views,\.but has been the inc ite- :,tl, held out to induce those to undertake the tion who are most persuaded of its dangers ilna ficulties- If this. be true, our views must be i t s reeled chiefly .to the preservation of .the Capitt„ We feel, in common with every Country, much indebted to Mr, PITT for haYiNr o so.forcibly direfted the attention of Ministers this point, and we confess we have never be e t able to understand how the present Governtne% should have thought itself justified in reftoil, offers of 'Voluntary Service in the Counties su n ' , well. w fisher to to; rounding the Capital, and particularly in the C° l ' e , tyv.of Kent, while at the same time they we",, a Eg cept ing offers t'te County of Stafford, a nd in (" I.lc evidently remote from the point of danger* do The Volunteers must feel the greatest gratttus, to ,Mr. PITT for having so ably and effeati"l,lll n e- o r loused their cause. The Administration /" ( - 114 venture to rejed his propositions, calculated. for. benefit of this body of men, and fur the safety 110 Country; and.,if we rise triumphantly out () ', e tia struggle , mind and patrioticthe theyi kn areow nd t o e b whose o r e r the%i. ., Jo e y • servation of the inestimable blessings they nu en) of (15' (" e , f it The Earl of WESTMEATH has lately beer r hett one of the Lords of - His MAI ssves Bed h e'e 4rn in the room of Lord RIVERS, c Our Readers may reculied Admiral HARISII-sji escape from Ferrol, with his Squadron, o"" to EDWARD PELL EW'S unsuccessful pursui t of hilovia the Madeiras: it appears that he arrived at Janeiro in August, in, a very distressed sides and, in short, in want of every thing. The Cumberland, Captain PIERCE, from Lond°ll arrived at Rio Janeiro on the 6th o f Octob er ' ° la found lying there the Albion, of 74 g uns, Citil t3 l4 , FERRIER ; the Russel, of 74. guns, Laptain I ..lams ; the Sceptre, of 74. g uns, Sir A. Piclt' ° „ . Bart. an d t he Grampus, of so guns - , Captain C AM :d, BELL; also the following East ludiamen out , 5 .bound Essex, Captain BONHAM ; 'Melville, Captain LENNOX the Aiirl Spence r ' ere RAtT ; the Princess Mary, Captain .GR1E. 1 ",, ; 0 1..; • Anne, Captain PRICE ; the. Glory, Capt. {•, 3 1 1 • the Southampon, Capt.-BAKER; and the Anif ili t h ere SCOTT. The Dutch Squadron were also lyii ) g t c under the command of Admiral HArtTstric c- ' ; „ i tet sisting of six Ships of the Line and one 14,ribo.ii,11 -two of which were in Salvador Bay. The r' n &to' were to sail from Rio Janeiro on the ifth of the .ber ; and the Dutch talked of sailing ab °l3• ,ioC ,zoth ; but it was supposed that a much longe r would be necessary to equip them for sea. .; A paragraph some. time ago appeared ill thi s „ o p per, by the mistake-of our Reporter, the charatler and credit of Mr. GRAHAM, of iZt ccry,lane, by a statement that he had °Pr e ' f o r jUstifybail fur 600 l: and had been rejeet ed ' which Mr. GRAHAM thought it incumbent te n Vqc to commence an action against the Proprietor. A•r)% feel it due to that Grntleman to state, that fin-lito. the paragraph had originated in mere mistak c ' p ot has, in the most handsome and liberal manner' au end to the aCtion, and accepted the a pologY 'ety upon the discovery of the mistake was imme(ll3l inserted. t o t es, A Letter' from Dublin, of the 2 8 th tilt. ,s„iog " On Sunday last an assemblage of persons n 3 taken place near Kathmines to witness a wrestii,,g into match, a great number of them were taken ins, custody and brought to the Castle, but on o ° 6l o o x tion yesterday, they were all discharged ecel'tvierG 'or three, more suspeCted than the rest : those detained until their chatatters are further inqu ired in t o.'' . DIED.. • f John On Wednesday last, at VVestminstsr, the L ad y ° t" I , La m b On Esq. of Georgetown, South Carolina. gihe On Thursday morning, at his house at South I f,-(4. itl the 23,d year of her age, ;he wife of Henry Vucic c)rt PRICE OF STOCKS, THIS DAY AT TWELVE O'CLOCg• 5 COnSO)S • - • 5" London : Printed by B. WmILIAN (of 10` 1 ,,, 1 01 Covtlktqardtp); tad i Publisned by ‘ . NTILLIAr A Scßtrrs (or so!alt Moltcr -tr t, G o cvc..or- 5(1" Nc!, 112,. Strejt,l, '.4"r was no doubt ; that a man might 'be able fib do 'conditionally, that which the Law already enabled him to do without condition. The clause. stated, " that, whereas doubts having arisen," which should be altered to " whereas there is .no doubt"—Then it stared, " that therefore after three, weeks, shall be at liberty to resign ;" which should be altered to, " that alter three weeks notice he shall not re sign"—Mr. PITT then stated some other points, which he said would come into discussion hereafter, and which he stated now, in order that there should be no Surprise as to the course he intended to take, for this was an object well deset ving the attention of ParliaMent. • Mr.-Secretwy YORKE replied to - many of the•obscrvations of Mr. PITT ; and as to the Clause on. which that Right Hon. Gentleman had been so entertaining, he supported the propriety of it, for he maintained, notwithstanding the de cision of the Court of King's Bench upon that subjed, for which he-professed respect, doubts were entertained still in the Profession. The Decision of the Court of King's Bench, however grave the authority; was not a final decision ; it was not the derider resort of Law and perhaps the Court of Common Pleas might have decided differently. He then went over many other topics, in some of which he agreed with Mr. PIT T, and ongothers he differed, but which we shall pass, since the subject is to be discussed again, upon • which a conversation arose between him and Mr. PITT. Mr. CURWLN said a few words in favour of the Farmer, in keeping his Servant, when he had but one, and the Maim. lady rer his apprentice, each to his work, instead of allowing.) them to attend drills, Sec. Mr. FULLER made several observations on the topics under discussion, in strong and . pointed language. With re.! sped to the idea of remunerating the Volunteer, which had been so much insisted on, he observed, that a geherouS Pub- • lic would not hesitate .to reward him afterwards. Smile of the Hon. Gentleman's obseriatidns created much risibility in. the House; but he - declared that attempts to beat him down would be found inciledual, and that no consideration what. ever should prevent him from speaking his mind. • Someexplatiatory conversation took place between Colonel' • EfILE and Mr. Secretary YORK e., • relative to the attendance • of the Adjutants, Serjeant.Majors, Bee. Sir .7. WROTTESLEr expressed hi opinion that some • general rule should be laid down would go to meet the difficulties complained of. With respect to this, how_ ever, he thought the variety of the occupations of the People of this Country a disadvantageous consideratidn. It may, - notwithstanding, be found that some degree of military duty would suit every respedtive description .of the Inhabitants, and which may be arranged by His Majesty's Ministers, with the assistance of, or carried into elled under, the superintend ance of General Officers. Mr. 11 1 1" NIVE adverted to several remaining details in the System, for which some efficient regulations ought to be established: he adverted to the circumstance of Farmers' Servants 'being allowed to be called out. He thought ,some, provision' should be made with resocd to those who may be called Our on permanent duty. On these points he thought something more eifedual should be brought forward than had been as. yet proposed. Nfr. Secretary )'ORKE then proposed some farther 'Amend ments, which were without discussion ordered to be incor-' porated in the Bill: The Chairman was then ordered to leave the Chair, and to report the Bill, with the Amendments, to the House. The House resumed, and ordered the Report to be now re. , , ceived. .. • -..__. The Amendments were then formally agreed to by the House, and, on the Motion of Mr. Secretary YORKE, the Bill, as amended, was ordered to be printed, and the - whole taken into farther consideration on Tuesday next. - The House in a Committee. went through the Hides and Tallow Importation Bill, the Report of which'was Ordered tobe received on Monday. The remaininOrders were then postponed, and at • Half past Eleven the House Adjourned till To-morrow. THE SUN. 30LEM QV'S DICERE FALSUM AUDCAT LONDON, MARCH 3, 1804. ,--'----- _