The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1807-03-30 00:00:00

70 7i11; RitiNF hON. W. WiNDILIAL

kee The hallowing Latter at APPIAN, has I ern hi the
Infjtior some lame iris, bin for waht roust could not be
ear r inserted.

In the former letters which I have had the ho-

n•.ur of addressi..q to yr u. I have stated the ad•
v• **vintages which have resulted to the army of France,
from the sy►tem established for the administration,

t •etics, and rnnnazement cf the Frcnch Army ; and
i. orflich has not only easentay contributed to tho.e

successes so manifest in the two List campaigns, but
has been ev''n apparent in their defeats. I have also
. taken the li;.sert, to urge a re hum of those soli-dant
Miiiaary Estai4ishments, which are so enormously
ery.eils!ve to (;',7ernmeat, without any soul ad-
. ',incise annexed to their service; stAd the necessity
of inPiworing our Military S; stem.
Whilst the enemy has been seriously checked in
his career upon the Cortincnt, which is strikingly
evident Irom the eitst Bulletin. wherein he says
" That it d:ctuot come into Cie calculations of the
French Genernl .to force thee linssian army in the
__Lauri:us " tav'etear he hal

•
in view, and the possession of which would have
marked a visor]; whereas, the reverse has taken
place, and be has retreated into. car ton:nents ;
whilst his tone has been changed into galimitias,
anger. and pitiful subterfuges, too contemptible
even to impose Ilona the minds of the credulous;
whilst the loss he has sustained sine the battle of
Pultusk, without being able to advance, must cause
a degree of despondency in his army, and give fresh
vigour to his opponents ; whilst he is drawing every
man, in the shape of a snldier, from the interior of
France, to join the Grand Army, as it is called,
which is at least six bundled miles distant from /its
own frontier; we are struck with amazement at
this reverse of fortune, and, instead of vigorous
exertion on our part, at such a favourable con-
junaures we are pausing about raising men, and
augmenting our army. It is true, we are about to
arm '200,000 men ; but when will they be ready for
service ? Simplicity is the soul of construition
but there appears to me, as far as I can judge, to he
too much machinery in this measure, and too
many persona to be employed in the assembling,
forming, and training of these men; which will
retard their progress. Every class of the err,-
munity is to be engaged in this business. However,
Me most wait the result, trusting that the derails w;11
be less complicated than they appear at first sight.
and that we shall proceed with promptitude in the
execution of the as. For the guidance of those
who may be employed in this service, I beg leave
to make one observation, which, although self.evi-
dent, is more material than it is generally consi•
dered—lt has been a very common error to distri-
bute arms, on various occasions, without sufficiently
attending to the care requisite to keep them in per-
tea order. A firelock is of no more use than a
club of the same length and weight, if the man who
is to be armed with it, dots not retain it in his pos-
session ; " if he be not taught, and has not the
means to clean and keep the lock fit for service.—
It was a great error, which originated in fear, to
establish depots for the arms of the Volunteers;
for these Corps, which were in the habit of lodging
their fireiocks after exercise, knew so little of the
use of them, that if a flint fell out, few of the men
could replace it. I have mentioned this circum-
stance, to skew the attention which will be required
to keep the arms in a proper and useful state of
repair, under the Training Aa.
if the profession of arms be the intention of those
gestkmen who are saving in the Militia and Volun-
teers, let ;boas hoist the star.dard of service ; which
eAll thew their zeal, and mark their military ar-
dour ; and I have no doubt but thousands of brave
men will deck to their banners, to support the Do.
no!ir of their country, and share in the glory cf
their leaders against the enemy. Government
shonld promote and encourage such a disposition.
A formidable army might be raised, classed, and
trained, in a very short space of time, if the Militia
and Volunteers weie disposed to aa with energy, as
real soldiers. What are we waiting for now We I
should carry the war into the heart of France—Our
Navy would intrepidly second and support such
expeditions as might oblige the enemy to withdraw
a part of his force from the North of Europe.—
We are greatly Naval, but not equally Military.
The brilliant exploits of the Army are upon an in-
ferior scale. Our minds are cramped on the con-
sideration of the extensive operations of the field.
This is the moment for enterprize ; and if we do
not avail ourselves of it, we shall low the most fa-
vourable opportunity which has occurred since the
commencement of the war. It is said, that the Great
Men of this Country must have Militia Regiments—
For what ? 'the present times are widely diierent
from those of the year 1759. All the world is in arms,
I and we must follow the example. There most be
many serious clashes before Europe be tranquil:iced.
Then why should we waste our time and pay for
imaginary soldkos, who are to do nothing more
than brush their gaytnrs. and march from one
cou-sty to another ? I da not understand what is
merit by Defensive Army ; it is like Defensive
Operations, ruinous in the adoption of thorn. If
men in arms ate not to be a'five in war, they are of
no use to the SLAV:. LA us have baubles and play.
things, in time of peace : we want soldiers now.
The wisdom of every government should be di-
reaed to such msasures as may be ntirt conducive
towards the suppression of prejudice and error.
It is therefore incumbent on all thosc who wish well
to their country, to concur in reforming the Militia
and Volunteers km regular soldiers, that we may
have it its our power, without delay, seriously to
annoy the enemy, and that they may p it ticipate in
the honour of the contest.

The imptoveinent of our Military System, beiig
a suSjea of great magnitude, embraces a very ea-
tensive and, in i:s parts, requires a most mi-
nute investigatiorr; but twin too copious to be
ciCtailJed in this tort, 1 shall only consider it gene-
sally under its shift-rent heads, and Wing i: for-
ward in substluent cammunications. AMMAN.

CHANGE OF MINISTRY.
(Extract from a Donal P:wet of the Mb instant
•
" We are informed, that the Catholic Bill is not
the Isle ground upon which Ministers are to be din-
missed, for they had ri ide such alterations in it as
must • give every satisfation to ecligious scruples in
a certain quarter ;' but they 4 ft und themselves re-
quired to enter into new pledges and new etlasernento
as to their future conduct, under oft pow3le cic-uat,.catee
—pledges and engagements, which had tin, er
been proposed to them, or even hinted at, on their
first coming into office' Should this be nix:, we
can easily perceive Oft impossibility of their re-
maining in power ; and while we deplore the re-
sult, we must admire their understanding and
their patriotism. We are also told, and eve dare with
Inglis, that • a due regard to their own dignity,
and the purity of their motives, will prevent
Ministers from tendering their resignation.—They
have respeafully declined to be retuned by pledges,
which might involve the very exitteace af the •-ountry :
and it now remains to be seen, what will oe the
future measures of those, whose advice has been
listened to on the present occaaon.' —lt gives us infi-
nite satisfaftion to see these great man maintain their
high chataEler, to see them descend from their seats,
crowned with hcnnur, and cheered with the applause
of the good and wise —A London Print Las the
impudence to assert, that • Ministers will retite
from offi•.:e, without exciting any feeling of regret
in any quarter.' Had the writers in that print,
tl,e Huskissons, sad the Castlereaghs, beheld the
gloom, the despondency, the ai.,,tation cf this
City, for the last four days—had they heard
the expression of the public fei,ling and sen-
timent at our Theatre on Saturday night,
they must have then acknowletrzed, what in their
hearts they how to be true, that the regret is very
neatly univEasax, cod that joy is coniaed to a-
contersptihlefiw, who are the ;Anders of Faaion,
and who, amidst the confusion and degradation of
their country, hope to gratify their malice,by prayer,
and their avarice by peculation. But let not the
Friends of the Constitution, of rational freedom, o.
external peace, and of internal tranquillity, despair ;
bad men and bad measures are seldom of long du-
ration—they defeat the end for which they labour.
In this country, in order to acquire a greater degree
of power, attzmpts will must likely be made by a
certain party, not only to divide, but to drive the
People to distraction t—the good sense of the nation
will, we are convinced, defeat all the efforts of these
incendiaries. Let the People not infringe the law,
and Ministers will not dare to violate the Con-
stitution."