The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1806-04-23 00:00:00

Ifrained and disciplined. It would stow be right t o
gnmpare the savings on Loth sides, and estimate
.e value of voluntary and compulsive service.
when applied to Englishmen. In his view of
the sts'jr!l, change to compulsory service, was
not onl y unnecessary, but unconstitutionat
The Crown had already the power of commanding
the service of every man, in case of actual invasion ;
and nothing, he believed, but the existence of that
necesA y, could justify it. What good ground was
there for so harsh a measure? Why should they
force the service of only 200,000 men, when there.
were 300,000 men already voluntarily in arms ? If
therelwere a necessity, it was incumbent on His Ma-
jetty's Ministers to thew it. He was aware, that the
volunteer system was a very delicate subjeCt, which
had already caused a great ferment itr the country,
and he was far horn being one of those who had any
disposition to promote it. (A greet cry of !
hear ! He, however, repeated the assertion, and
said, that the etre& of his motion would be to make
that let ment subside, as well as the disposttion,which
was so prevalent amongst the volunteers, to resign.
It was likely that they would now wait with patience
till they found what would be the decieion of the
House They knew, that on this, as well as all
other important subjeCts, there would be a grave
and deliberate discussion; and should the new plan
then be adopted, they would of course cheerfully
submit, on a convietion, that it was a measure of ne-
cessity. resiaes,they must consider, that they might
have those enemies to deal with, who would'now
readily takeadvantage of any intemperance theyrnight
manifest ; and it was therefore the more incumbent
upon them to be upon their guard. But, after all, it
must be admitted, in candour, that great allowance
mud be made for the feelings of gallant men,who, dis-
De' -ing their avocations. and their usual habits, come
forth with alacrity, in ar:ns, upon the call of Parha-
m nt,when they are told that they are such, that it is
a shame for the military to appear in the same uni-
fin m with them ; that their discipline should be re-
laxed, and that they were not to be trusted in
line; however, all this would, no doubt, be forgotten,
if the necessity were made to appear. He then
tuner& for an Account of all sums of money paid
en account of the volunteers, since the commence-
ment of the user, to the latest period, distinguish-
ing each year.
Mr. Secretary FOX said, he certainly did not rise
for the purpose of opposing the motion, as it was
ight that the House should be in possession of the
amount of the exisences. Ile could not, however,
but observe, upon the difference there was be-
tween the masion and the speech of the Right
Hon. Gentleman. The speech, as far as respected
his anprnval of the Volunteers not deliberaring
on the measures of Parliament, was not objeetion-
able ; but the foregoing part of it by no means cor-
responded web the conelusion. If he were to lay
down the criterion of judging, whether or not
there was an intention to inflame, he did not
know of a better one he could lay down, than
'that of a revolts of capacity misrepresenting
others. and giving a sense to exprrssions,which they
were never infant to convey. For instance, when
his Right 'ion. Friend (Mr. Windham) proposed
to relax t' e discipline of the volunteers, he evidently
meant n more than that they should be called out
fewer days, because they had been trained already.
But when he Wend men, capable of better things,
catching hold of words, and distorting their mean-
leg, be thought it afforded the criterion of a dispo-
sition to inflame. WI-en the Right Hun. Gen-
tleman talked of an intention to call out 200,000
men, and disband 300,000 volunteers. he would
refer him to his own advice to the volunteers, and
say, " Wait till you have the plan before you, then
examine it in all its parts, and see what it will do."
That by subjecting them to a greater portion of ex-
pence, some diminution may take place in a num-
. ber of 300,000 men, might be very true ; but lie de-
nied that his flight Honourable Friend had ever
expressed an intention to disband any of them.—
When the plan was before him. then, indeed.
the Right Honourable Gentleman might consider
what rednBion it might be likely to create; but he
did not think him justified in giving a premature
*pinion. Besides, if the expence should actually be
productive of a diminution in the Volunteers, it
would be hut fair to state against it the advantage it
may afford to the recruiting service. Ile believed,
however, that the Vnluoteers themselves would ne-
ver think, that a diminution of the expence which
1 they occarion, from motives of public economy,
,would be entaat as a stigma or an affront upon
them, as represented by the Right Hon. Gentle-
man It was also imputed to his Right Hon. Flier's!,
that he formed hi, plan in such a way, that he left the
Volunteer System as only an asylum for such as
were unwilling to serve their country in any other
way. Now trite plan on the contrary was, to allow
the rich !ran to serve his country in his own way,
but at his own expence ; and the poor man to
serve his country without any expence. But to
allew all men to serve in their own way, in case of
.aCtual invasion, would be an insult, not only on the
Volunteers, but upon common sense and the spirit
of the country. Upon the whole, the effect of the
measure would be to diminish the expence, but by
no means to diminish the number of the volunteers.
As to inflammatory feelings upon this subject, he
d.d not think they were much encouraged in the
countt y. The Bight I lonourable Gentleman said,
Slur the Volunteers had enemies who would take
advantage of any intemperance they may shew.
"7 If hi acew that they bad enemies in that House, it
would become.: him to point them out; and, after
having done that, it vanitld be incumbent on him to
prove them to be such; after which he would be
justified in using the expression.
Mr. PERCIVAL contended that he did not
misrepresent the Right lion. Gentleman. Ile spoke
of what he said, in the manner in which he under-
stood him; and would appeal to the generality of
the Members of the House, whether they did not
f alert understand him in the same manner?
Lord CAS ILEREAGf I expressed himself high-
ly pleased with what fell irons Mr. Fox, as it gave
reason to repeal that the Bill, when brought in,
w add be very different from the opening that was
m tde of it, ion only is .shat tegarded the Volunteer s,
bin Also in what related to the Standing Army,
Arincli he hoped to find reveled from his grasp,
and Haws Lisuestrufive reforms. From the general
tenor of the Right Han Gentleman's speech. it
ssf must have been understood, that he fiend that cur

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