The Sun. — London, England, 1806-04-04 00:00:00

f ,ele had now got to such length that it was im-• •; to stop it at once. Yet the service would 11;a - el - be right till it should he brought back to the cendition io which it was forty or fifty; or even , thirty years since, when the service itself was the only bounty to tempt men to enter the Army.— These principle's were so plain, so certain, .that he could safely state them witholit any•fear of opposi tion. The first principle, 'therefore, he wished to establish respected the bounties. The next would operate in aid of that. As in all trades the, people - lia - ve a fair option with Whom to deal, out of the ge- - , neral baasS, s so,:in this instance, he, proposed that the - tratfic should be optional and.opere. He did not think that the shop should be opened in a back street, in a place that was no, thoroughfare, or that there should net he clickerS, puffers, arid advertisers employed, .. for advertising 'was fair and unobjectionable when, th'e trade was just and honourable. It they did net advertise, they could, not expea that / men would - come from tho Isla of Wight, or l'rom Verkshire, - to purchase.' They should not only ,keep public and open market, but carry their shops to the wakes and litirs of their customers, even to their , houses. But the•persona employed shoUld not be like those at present engaged in the traffic, who were most •unfit; floe it. „These were .the general principles, upon. he preooSed to facilitate the provision of a sufficient -supply'to recruit the Army. 'He was next • to come tti,what he proposed to do,, to: plaee it on • ,arch a fOotitig as would make it an objed to a con siderable portion of the population of the Country to engage in the service. The first T provision for that purpose which he had to propose waa an increase of pay. 'lf they were to givelive shillings per day ,to . every man, there could be no doubt that they would get soldien; enough. But there was a limit to this pro % isien, founded iu a reward to discipline.' They could, not raise the pay above a certain amount without making the Apny,licentions, which would destroy dis cipline, and by rendering severe punishments neces sary, deter the people from entering into the service : therefore lay within very narrow limits. ,There could be no Army_ without discipline, but then it was desirable not to deprive the service. of such other temptations as might induce individuals to en- • ter it. The life of a soldier was certainly not fa-. v-ourable to longevity ; it was not such a' one as in that view might be recommended , But then the situ ation of- a soldier might ,be rendered _an objeet of , respe&, and be regulated in such a manner as to be regarded os a situation o f dignity. What. could be done iu this Country by distinaions, the cheapest 'mole of reward. This species of reward, however,. had been lately greatly lavished, alad fatally invaded. Though the lay could not be materially increased, etheitgli they could ipt take off any part ofthat disci teiitie which was so essential, they had still enough to induce as Many of the population of the country as, w - ould be sufficient fur the emergencies of the coon= try to,enter intoshe Army. The Governinentpos, ~e.ssed ample means in the distribution of rewards fa- past services, 'and the provision for those whO Might be disabled- in the service. These might be . augmented 'ad lit itunt. The Government, tho' it could not increase the pay; could certainly bestow honours'ond distin&ions suited to the. rank, situation, -;and conditio of the party. But. with respe6t,to the leithre of the service there was ope distinction which in his opinidh and in that of very high Military au thorities, might, without any prejudice to the army, svithoiit de,tritneot, without injury to the general '-ervice, be doee away.. This distivaioo was the tern for - which men were engaged to serve, in our. Instea‘,l of the service for life he proposed that the .engageuieet should be, but for a limmited number of veers, in the same: manner as in every other . country of Entope. He said of Europe, the' a late proportion of cm - owe farce, the 100,0"00 men toeavhich he had before alluded, were ee e vaa - ed 'for a limited term. Those Cientlemen who cal7;u- Feted on those troops as equal, - ornearly so, tQ Regular TroopSa could riot consistently make any objection to this'alteration. It would be rather strange if they should contend that such a chOnge in the term of service would destroy the charaCtec of an army: lie admitted there WOUili IN a difference, but that dif ference would arise not from .the limitation of ser vice, but front the limitation of place. .The change 'of service would produce an effect so clear, so per tain, so utterly incontrovertible, that it was unne cessary to argue it. When they were,told that corps recruiting far dip'erent terms of service obtained men for the same price, .that argument proved nothing:. Corps recruiting for the same service often got men at different prices. ,If the argument was good fur any thing it would go to prove, that where a man accepts five guineas when, by holding out a• litttle longer, he might have had ten, he likes five as well , as he should.ten. Aud it might often happen that 'a tuan, particularly in moment 4 of intoxication, Might be tempted to take eve, though he might have teu by pressint for them. Another principle which he proposed was, with a view to do away a restriction :injurious to the service. This principle would have the aced of filling the armies, and providing a sup ply for them equal to any emergency. On this sub , Jed he was opposed by many high,ancl respeetable • military authorities, but was also snpported by others as high and respedable. If he paused on the sub ejed, it was because of its magnitude, and not because lie felt the Smallest doubt of the value or the reEti-; tude of the principle. ,Did not the cbaraiiter of the soldier exist in as high 'a degree as possible . in the litanies of Foreign Powers He was an advocate for national charader, and he thought that this more than any other circumstance put a difference between dif ferent nations:, This national charader was visible to the three nations that' composed this Empire-- 'the English, IriSh, and Scotch. He was sere they would till feel -equally anxious to suppott it ill their military capacity. On the authority of ex perience he could' assert, that the military service might, and could be carried to the highest pitch in limited service os in setaiee lite, He could not • see why ,a differeut pystem was to be adopted here, fruits 'that which was acted upon every Where else in Europe. In every other country the Armies were • raised for a limited term of years. It was also to be ohierved that the Army of the East India CoMpany ia-afeeeliSted on the some terms. Could it he said that that Arkny hild not conduced itself With spirit and heavery e that it had not distinguished it elf? It might be nrged; that ,apprehensions anight naturally be felt concerning the ell'eet of such a change. • But' there was no foundation fbiesuch fears. The saute . would apply any Other species of :iris . erovenient 'that could be pr•Opoed. It might be . tilted, that it wonld be dangeroOs to carry it-into eifeEt, because something might happen that would do a way* beneficial effeas, or proveiojurions totise polk-- lic servie4. The establishment ofthis change' in Abe • term of service would have the 004 of ‘ inducing a better description of persons to enter the Army, Which would diminish those other circumstances that ope rated to discourage their entrance into,the service. He would- not here be understood to mean ; -that se vere and corporal punishments ought tq.be abolished. It 'would still be necessary to _enforce diScipline with vkorous punishments when merited. 13 , 74.• the cir-, cumstances- attending the introchiCtion of a betten cless of persons . into the Army would have a /lon ble Operation in promoting- the entrance - into it. . The better description of persons would les sen the severity of punishments, and the lessening the severity . of punisheoents would encourage a bet ter description of persons. to enter,.and the discipline would be, infinitely improved. Another effeCt of this principle would. be. to lessen desertion. What the amount of the desertion now was may be learned from the Noble Lord's account, (Lord Castlereagh) which.stated the desertion, from ,13,000, raised under the Additional Force Bill, at 2600, about one-fifth. The consequence of -the vicious system was the in trodo6tiou of vile men into the-Service. This altera .tione combined with the, other,. would -in' time do away ; the enormous expence of the present mode of recruiting the army, which was -so wakeful! to the funds, and so injurious to the public 'service.. Thera was another objection urged against this cbange, which applied to thisCountryrhore than to any other, because - of its Colonial Service. -But with respe& to this objeOion„ it was at-best but a distant. one. -It would lest apply at present, but. might hereafter ; ,though in the mean time measures might 'be taken to obviate it. This might be done -by 'making eckli tional allowances, and giving .additional advantages to the men who should go. on that service. There were many men who had no. objection to the Co-- lonial Service, and the objections of others might easily be alone away ; so that the objeeliion would not operate for a long term of years., If the ob jeCtion had any weight at all, -it would apply with most elle& to the most distant Colonies.- The East' . Indies were the most distant of the foreign posses sions of this Country ; yet the whole of the India -Company's army was inlisted for a short—a 'very short term of years. It had been said, that the In dia. Company had broken faith with their soldiers. This was- a `misrepresentation. - He was welliin formed, and by an Otficer of high rank, that the India Cenwany lied observed the most scrupulous and exact faith... If they - had- .not, they certainly :would -not have,recruited their armies. - They pro vided comfortable residences for such of their soldiers, whose terms expired, and when an opportunity of:- facil e seoc Them to Europe, accommodated in -their own ships, afirding the beat accommodation that. men could have. This he had from very high au thority. If the service in so distant a. Colony could be Well performed by men raised -for liMited terms, it 'Might be equally.so in any other.. But the objec ' lion would be fully removed by the existence of-those Corps, which it was, now deemed wise to keep up ; lie meant the s . c.'cond . Battalions.: If it should be asked what -was to •he done with the men whose term of service was . near expiring, . he should say, put them into the second Battalions. He had seen and read -the opinions of several Military Gentlemen, Of high eharader,.drawn up with much care And in dustry, which urged against this principle the ex pellee that would be the consequence of renewing -the bounties so often. This objection was founded on the principle that the bounties were to re main the same as .at • present. .- It did not fol low ' that they were- always to remain the same, though they could not be materially reduced at ' present ; nor that the bounty shOuld be the same in the.seeond as in the first instance. It had also ' been urged that, -if the limited service were adopted ' after the expiration of the first term, we should -lose every year a proportionate part of the army that is, if the recruiting were to be. for eight years, that, after eight years, we should every year lose °tut-eighth of our army. - But that calculation went upon a supposition that no men were to die during that-term. If that were the case, the calcu-• latien would be just. But as men would die, others would be substituted in their stead ; so that it would never happen that such a ' proportion would --go out at the same time. Before the expiration of the scr- - vice, besides, some would; of course; have received encouragement in the way of promotion, that would attach them by interest to the service, and . others would not be disposed to demand their discharges, The great question on -this point was, , whether the •number that would' be lest at the expiration of the period of sersiice would be equal to what would be -at all times gained - by the increased advantages of the' -terms and nature of the service. He had been, moved by the calls of the Right Hon. 'Gentlemen opposite . to bring forward ' the measure this day, before the minute details of it were in every instzmett completely arranged. It was not, however, very material Whe -timer the matter, were brought forward this day o . r ten dayslaier, 'arid the hOlidays.would•afford A Conveni ent opportunity of considering the particulars of a sqbjeCt of which every body knew a little, and no body knew much. It might be objeavd, that a corn :petition would arise froM Officers of different Regi ments striving 'to catch the renewed service at the expinition of the period. To prevent the men from going out of their Regiments, the change from one -Regiment to another, ,was to be molded, of the rank of three years and a half service. If the man shotild chuse to Change his Regiment -at that loss he might exercise his option. With respect to desertion, - which he should have adverted to soonar if it were not impossible in so extensive - a statement to keep every thing in its place, it was proposed to punish it with a-forfeiture of t he benefit of the whole .of the time served, with a discretion to the• Court - Martial to restore half of it if they should see just - grounds. This discretion was intended to prevent the merit of a long service from being forfeited - by one false ash in a moment -of folly or intoxication : but in - no instance was the base act of desertion to escape the proportion of half the period of service. This must produce a gradual cad on the charader of the Army. it was certain that desertion prevailed even in the most limited service; but-to say that the , prevalenee of desertion would :not be - limited -by the I prospect of release at a certain time, -was to argue .against the first principle of human nature. Men were intlueneed,it• was true, in all sitinqions,•by the habits of tnose about them ; and where habits of desertion pre-, theyavera catily fallen iLto,. whater ativali tages may,operate against them to attach men to the service. If it was-said-that those who entered into the army did not look to futdreadVantage:lie Would net • deey that it was so in a great Measure, and that was one of the &feeis he- complained of in our service, . and one of . the advantages he looked to from the remedy, if it was the introduCtion of a better class of men into the-service. -He was told, that to hold-out to a yoting lad the prospea of an 'advantage at the end of r pen - S . , was to hold out an advantage that would have co 'weight. Certainly. it may haVe no weight as applied by the young Man directly self, but when he saw the influence it had on, those around, him, he could. not linl tp be equally influ enced by it. When he would : see his Uncle Tom, who 14 years betbrewent for a soldier, enjoying himself on the honourable allowence granted by his Country, for his services; while other relatives who had ae maineal•athome were, p4ahapa, reduced to the ne cessity of subsisting pmaa scanty - parish .allowance, be could not fail to draw' inferences froni the:' corn- *parison caculated. to give a preference to a : military life. 'The period to which the obligation of seraice . -should be limited should be. seven years e -ssome . thought it ought 'to be shorter ; but this was a'sort • • of .compromise between their .w ishes and .the 'wishes of those who•were for, service for life. At, the . .,end of seven .years,.he proposqd a.dischare'e, With credit as a meritorious reilitary.servant.i In. t tle Second pee _noel - of seven years- of the war should he be alispOsed atolenew his services, he proposed to gifLi sinhll Merease of p,iT, of riQ greater. attlollllt - than '@fiat the decreaseof-the value Of inc n 1 rendered necesSary. to keep them, iii aruia.at, its standard 5. . 64: a,we4k - advance •for instaece. This period of seven. years • was tueent : to the ;iolntry ; as it took a longer time to make a Cavalry ,Seldier, and a still loner to in ke in. Artillery. Soldier,_ he shotilddivide the time ofserviee for them into ten -yeats.fpr the first period, .six years for the second, and five years for the third. To revert to the Infantry, after the expiration of the second period of seven years, he ,proposed to allow pension of a -small ;nitwit. Inyaluable as it would be to retain a Soldier of this description in_the Service, it was infinitely more valuable that he should go back into the community aucleahibit a beneficial example; • in enjoying the merited bounty of the Country:— Whether any service ought to be. required of these, amhether they should beat the option of the Chelsea for home service iii the garrison -battalions, he should leave tobe hereafter determined. !To those who should continue to serve after the period of 14 years, he should propose an advance of I s. a week, for they would then he soldiers fully tried, arid par ticularly intitled to have _confideace placed in them. After 21 years, it was fit they should retire with the . full allowaece of. Chelsea, such as it had been 'fixed by the late, Goyernment and the Commander in Chief for those who . had distiogniahed themselves in particular places, or had undergone particular services, such as ,those who, had ,lost their sight in Egypt :.this 'allowance was ()tie shilling a day,: the men who ,Would have entitled ,thernselves to this should be free trom all service in garrison battalions, eainauy other line; and if thee carried offrobustness. 'of fraMe, and strength of constitution, so much the better. The -better _they Were capable. Qt . cajoy e ing the. re - waads of, their„ services, the more strik ing their useful and' bilnonrable example would be. On colonial aervice, he would allow the man to' be retained. in time of .war six Month§ above . . the expiration • of his time of ,service , if that should be - necessary;, btit .at. all events to bealisa: charged at the end of the siaarnonths and sent home' at - the expence of the GPvdriirraent like the Troops Of the East India Company. '; rf he were the principal changes he proposed in the condition of a soldier; and trom these be looked forward to the most bene ficial effe&s. Other.changes of leSs Moinent would be carried into effect without the interfererice of the 'Legislature, by His Majesty's Ministers, and chiefly by the Illustrious Personage•at the head of the Army. Other provisions would be adopted by. the Legislaa Lure, with a view 'to place the charaaer of Officers in a higher light, and . throngh that . to infihence and mama the soldier. These provisions were in many instances eonneded. with 'extraneous considerations which it was hard to methodize, and of which it wet. perhaps better net to state any till they could be sub mitted altogether. Wit qne of them was to allow pensions to Officers' widow s,, he would, not say. to what amount, but on the plan of the compassionate list of last War, the amount of the grant; under which was so small, that the ,distribution- of it was the most heart-breaking thing any feeling man was. ever engaged in. The principle of recruiting for a term of years would of itself go far : towards filling up the Army. To place the chara&er of a soldier in. a state that its. own attrataions would operate as a bounty, should. be 'the great objea of .consideration ; to increase and add that tespeet .which amidst a thousand. disadvantageous' circum stances was still attradive. This he stated as an in= definite outline, fully ,persuaded that any provisions to the effect he had deacribedcoold not fail to be at tended with advantage. , There he left this part of tlie, suhjea, but not before - he 'aclarteal to a very ma terial part, which he had Passed over as it was, natu ral to do with many material points, in so compli cated a subjeete What was:to be donewith the ex isting Aptly engaged to serve universally for life He answered, Noting. . Equity required no change with resped - to them : nor was it to be supposed - they would . be diacontenteda They had seen men enter their regiments with an advantage of successive bounties, to an amount far beyond what they had received, and they had shewn no discontent because tile reason of the thing was visible. Thus lit the American War the Fencible Regiments received higher bounties for limited 'service than others dld for unlimited, and yet there. was ..no- complaint on the part' of the latter. The ,same case occurred in .every war; and as no discontent was shewn on this . wore obvious ground, it was to not - be expected that _any would be shewn on the different, length of the tern of , service. It was proposed further to make a great increase in the Chelsea Establish ment; The lowest ciao of pensioners Would be allowed 6a. a day, the, next 9d: an 4 the third Tina advaucement to take place immediately, - from tnotives , as well of jut consideration cd past servics, as bf policy to - give immediate effeat to the influence ()lilac example. • It would have the,effed, Pt:giving a vested interest in a,very desirable provision. No man of .those now in the service should be released till after the expiratieo of 2 . 1 . years, but at ahe.e . tad of the periods of a and ea' yeer - s, _they areto be al lowed the increase of pay. was all that could be done for them, and they NVould have reason to look upon it -as a liberal boon. Having said ,thus miich'ou the constitution of the adual armed force, he erne - now to that great question in political science, What was to be done With that part of the population that was not a6lually in a military shape The real military force had had an almost. exclusive swayindeterminingt he fatg Ofn ation s.Ther: was n ever an instance to the cbntrary, except in America, were therelad been opportunities of eluding our forces in a vast and difficult extent of country, and thus to protraa'the 'War till• habits perfealy - militart.Were acquired. This could, not be done in Europe; cer tainly not in a confined Coqntryli4e this,where things must necessarily - soon come to close contest. But the question was here, what could be got from that loose. part of the; population in aid of the proper:lDi- , litary force; and care should be taken, that,what was gotin aid of the lie6rplar Force sboiild not tend to Weaken it. - -With' respea . :to 1 - x)int,_ditrei;ent persons entertained_ diferentopinionsi and tlie same :person` entertained different -opinjciti at times. fils opinions were, with a . feW ilterat - Ons, .arising from circumstances, that is,lnl tails muialtdis, th6'same: as before, and they would befound,tO be compating them with the, only records - v f _had e ofopinion,s . - deekired in Parliament—records _which were; in this instance, particnlarlv zuthentic. The error that :Wy.l. *Leen fajlen into m this inatter, The -we're the necessary result of the - 'nov - elty of th" . pzise; ; earl the difficulties iu, which it was ifivolvea. Those who cause inipecnc atld . re model had the advantage cif 016: expeeenct:, bUt ' they di5.:4a1 1 t, 48 ,-; QC i}Ot . ini. 7 . - 1Eg .. .1 Cl',' nll 1111- ,tiy' enter 'itpon.. - .I\n‘l:aps prede.cessors,haci•en to _Jan , - ..;•l . ltary ctilirts from the,KeSling nrgenq Fur hithself - he..pressed, the most 111.,: it: 1. At the commencement of thewac tv:o1;:e lull of aldriii'and alfdopr---p•oh.q, they expe.:ted ,an immediate, . prepared to meti it u.., . . , . that . what was about to ,propo: - (.- now on. : ; have been done then,. by .making u,;(2 of luntaT servictiof the. people—by gi ii,g, the peue,ie an 'opportunity of learning 'what they should ;do 'when he Enemy \Vas C9llle-7by instruCtingetheM iu .the discipline . that was most - useful to be . known, by means of Officers from the regular service—by forming depots of Arms, and opening a` shop for instrudione The Officers may have been k erit ‘v n by the mail coaches, the arms by the waggons. No , further time need be lost. These measures, with the aid of little associations among tiwniselves for the - purptise et distributing pries for shouting at marks, would have produced a force, not indeed capable of engaging a regular army, but capable of assisting a ii inn 1y rvgtilar Army, of f harrassing „and NN - eigh7 ng'aown the eneitsy:, . and furnishing at fund of cruits ~from which the loSsesef_on Regular :Army may be : speedily and - effeCtUPv repaired. Ile could . . not say with certaintytheteetie:ts . everrnow : bat it hiay 1-sevtriedeeast4 9- *d shoktlye and no mischief could'T•ie from . flit. peo ple re e. - secife`bl for ,the tore ai ion of the Volunteer corps. Tlicee t ;what to - do . when t 1 14.3 r asked what Vin to.b6 d6Lie:` , ; Tgeyohpu g ht the best - thing tube dp n e,:tvh =lOl en_theiaiseitaeteas" to make themselves ;lig.e ..scildier.g .- * totgetaveriee crre 4 se's,- - .4.na to learn their exercise. - Th 6.: clovezecnent wai to fblarne.:for'eneoureginsthese, ideas mid-the great Man . (Mr. Pitt),_ whosee4inions were ahvayseto- be heard With deference, ../v . rntaina. they•may be made Nltar:to -Whose hebits were its from - the -n n fr e lit ary chat.:(Yer,- cot:111140' 6y Officers. 1 - tk t i fej , k _ seines, Of whp ill. flerfeetl y itnpra:talc - able to /1)7'111 that. sett of substetice'fit.,49 take . the fie.ld' as regulist soldiers,weee thetleatirith a regillata\th. ThiS he vas sure was; -more au' eli-Or'7Of tlie 'heart ihan ofthejudgmerit of the 'Right Ron. Gentleman. It might have.provect fatal to the Coontty... if :Volunteers were to be opposed to the attadk of a ter aular invading army; as the enemy wota mus i and We most,' . depreeate, it was iMpinssibl f e uli no y t e l a o p lu b p i - e pose 'that. Many-must fail e :thOugh_rminywoulddo -their duty. . -.4 man Amy: be in himself of doing what - was :right e but be might be ief e aed, with the bactexample.of thoseabout him, or wide n his view.' The reason:that lines were weak was, we cause men were influenced by their neighbours, fearea : When they feared,' and yielded when they gave way . If the people were „to be. ciefended.lay the 28th, the 3eth, e or other Regiments that had distiug - uisted themselves, they would feel a confidence which the; Could not have in Vo)unteers. Not that the Volun teer System was vithodt advantages; the enrolment itself was a great advantage, as it marked out a great part of the military population; the Volunteers were besides marked oat by their dress,- known to their . _neighbours, an4ledged to the Country the obliga .tion they had contrail-led. 'He -%viilcl not - say that' they may not be very useful even in Cprps e e In a Jong .contest, a prospea • that it would be unwise in us not to look to, though it was by no tne'ans_all agreeable one, a . skilful ,General iney mate great 1.1,,e of them, and pesSibly lead them to a capacity :for services of tlie:higher order.... But if-it was pro -posed to fit .them for the field, and an increase of pay and allowances were to be givekt..to fit them for ..that, that, the labour would be lost it would be to throw good money after bad. Hewilteld only for Volunteers of a certain description, such as were of the better . order and,ready to serve withoutexpence to the Na tion. The others he would have trained loosely,. , taught the platoon exercise e w . ith,a view to furnish recruits, and the use of fire-arms, to which the Vo lunteers judiciously rescrted.On,their owls impulse, firing at marks, With, this training .they may be Used under intelligent , min as armed peasantry. This was.his viel.v.of the nikev, but the system that had been followed wentto include"all volunteer exertions , to 'Volunteer firstCorpS. His first ohjeaion to tinseystem was its • Immense' expenee. The yoltnteei systetn .'had cost Government:; its theeeyears and a half, five _ subscriptions from the . poCkets of indi victuals it had cost as much more ; aud though this might not 'be considered Oft the same, footing as ifit 'bed come from Parlament, it was entitled In great ,treight—there ',wicks Inc expenc s e un teer went. to for 1i;e:A.:11, which alteeether amounted to no lesserhantle Sa1.11:f5:1M: Thus the.Geve - rinneet expence ,NOl in nalf \ ttieikoiivrty Taic. ;•botlistogether to the whole- •Peaperty Tae ; ,and the cost, to iteixi•ivals, sheeldeot,be,overleolicd, 11'2.3.'ecia4 to either ot them. If we were to pay for the Volunt.b,...r _- _~