The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1805-03-07 00:00:00

seeding on this strain any further, f mint he entered
to observe the Hors. Gent. did C:lllt!'..;it
the leader of the former nigh!, than my ; its-
! Friend at that time iiivselt contraßiied tht online
of his own condal and reaseaiagelpoe fernevele-
casiens, when I had the pleasure and the !amour
of co-operating with him. Can be forget that meat
of those systems which he now eta vet/erne:l4 rine o-
bates were introduced at the time that be was him-
self a Member of the CAbinet, Jed Secretary At
War? lam very ready to admit. 4•A' people may
co,;(-ur in tier views of meesures, and ce-operate
with each other in advencing them for years:Mß -
deer, and in time time Aherwards might Live reason
to Alter their opinions, :t r. tel view thing, with a di Erma
asps 1. But, in such cafes. I always c essidered it
to be more natural, and bnieve it to have beets tee ,
prAdice, when these topics came into discussion, that
the dissenting party shined relied with silent regret
on his former applobAtion ; but I fancy it has sel-
dom happened before, that a person so circtrin•
stance], should so soon become such an enthusiast in
his conversion, as to take the lead in the reprolexii
of tho e measures, of which he himself was oile ;-
natty o,e of the principal framers. Of the 'net .t:r
now se vehemently condemned, I nettt temitti
Right Hon: Friend, that there were three. vie.- -
The quantum of the force to be raised h; the diffee
ent counties; the augmentation of the Militia and
Provincial Cavalry ; all passed in the year 179 G. or
which he and I were the joint authors and arep-
perters, and of which I shall take some furs
titer notice, after having previously disposed of
what I consider to be the main question. Its
judging of this. I cannot admit the question on
the ground of repeal to be, whether the measure
has as yet fully answered all the purposes shish
were hoped fur from it, as I consider the question
rather to be, whether it would be more advantage-
ous for the public service that the Bill should now
be repealed, without further trial, or whether it
should be suffered to remain till sonic better judge
ment could be formed of its future operation ? Ffie
utility of the Bill I am willing to confine to
the (Area of it in raising the men ; for I deny that
the purpose of raising the money bed ever 'ueeis
reasoned upon by me, with refereece to tiny other
°hied than et of obtaining the necessary 'levies.
To every argument, therefore, of its being a pa:u-
nitary measure, my answer is short, simple, and dis-
tils°. It never was thought of as a pecuniary
sure, otherwise than as it would be instrumental to
the raising of the men. That such a,: objed was
ever disclaimed on all sides, through every discus-
sion that took place lest session, antithat it has been
only invented by the Hon. Gentleman en the pae-
sent occasion merely with the view of casting an
odium on the U. If it had in it any thing of the
chArAebr of a pecuniary measure. I should be
one of the foremost to propose the repeal of
it ; but even in that worst point, it would
be found milder. than the penalties tieisie in-
Rifted by the Bill for which it was subeilßee. I
come now, Sir, to the shrr: question of Lite raid
hitherto produced by the measure—and here I find it
necessary to state, that it did riot, in fad, comineece
its operation till the 14th of November, at which
time, recruiting parties were first sent into the dif-
ferent parishes. If the reason should be akeds
why it was retarded, and why thi rev uiticg parties
were not sent out bet ere ? I answer—that is a sepa-
rate question, and may, at any time, be made the
sinned of a distinct discussion. Dismisetig, there-
fore, the delay which intervened in the opertekin
of the ?fill *ern idly to November, ter- as tee
what men it hey fur iihed int the last twelve
or tour:vets weeks, and the returns will ;nova
t at they Antonio to no less upon the average than
Soo men per week, and during the latest of these
weeks the return was eacreased to 180 risen weekly.
Proceeding upon the calculation of even this aver-
age continuin the result would be an aedition to
our Regular Force of from 9to 10,000 men an-
neelly. Upon this hare statement, 1 think myself
fairly justified in putting it to the House, whether a
measure, which already was making such progress,
ought prima facie to be discarded? But the Hon. Gent.
has with his usual boldness haz trded that by this mea-
sure not a single man has been produced ; while, on
the other hand, I am ready to prove that this inef-
fedual Bill, as it is called, by furnishing only 9 or
10,000 men annually. doubles what has been here-
tofore the recruiting power of the country. Thus
the matter stands upon the fad; and, if the House
admits the necessity of having recourse to extraor-
dinary means, I think the experience of the last
three months will justify the continuance of the
measure, and the inexpediency of repealing it at
this time ; and though I cannot say the expe-
rience pf the last three months should be consi-
dered as decisive of its merits, I have a rivht
to assume, that it cannot be conclusive proof
against it; on the contrary, indeed, it would afford
a fair presumption that the measure was such as
would satisfy all for wit:eh it was intended, Mosel
it mint not satisfy All those whose expe&stios front
it might be extravagantly high. Its all fainters
it should be considered, that this mean* was
brought forward in a period very inauspicious to as
rapid success. After the renewal of the war, a
great draft was made upon the country, and all ths
ballots set in activity to supply the deficiencies in the
Militia and the Army of Reserve. Coming is the
midst of this dirk, the experience of its final pro.
gress could Affiird no test of what it may prodare -
after the country should recover from the greet
draughts of the ballots, and carrying with it the
drawback of very moderate bounties, *hilt the
extravagant bounties gives, while the different
services in competition with each other, were fresh is
people's minds, I positively deny that this mamas
was represented as calculated to have a very raji4
operation in the outset. (e/ reeked cry cf lisor, Agin
nem the Opposition side). I repeat, Sir, thm the
measure was at first partial as to its retest and
its description. ha first operations were con-
fined to those places 'where it has been before
found more difficult to raise recruits, ail its pro
duce applied to the filling up of the deficiencies sit
other urgent services. lc was also impeded by the in-
- duary with which the opinion was circulated, that is
cwaarris
emlabnyt tao besmasiblarmiliojoserd, ityenliad that,y eAras, itisteassosionldy
of course be repealed in the preset t year. The 4.
fusion of such opinions must at course have daubs:
ed that aaivitT which otherwise would be egunada
and will soon be eserted,if the decision of ettur
should prove to the country, chaise great mai :of
qv
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