The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1806-05-31 00:00:00

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tlett the Austrian army did not maintain a high mi-
litias, Ow ee....r . !'ne..• zw o, Le mentioeed, as
betng the gri nten military natOns of the Con-
tsent ; but he would a k, did the opposers of this
measure never hoar of such a people as the Swiss?
D.l they never .ea., 01 hear, of their renown
it, war? 1' e Cantons of that country hired.
their troops. and placed them in the pay of foreign
countries i yet i.e enuld confidently assert, that
Clem we, net a single regiment raised by that Re-
Po- hlie% which was not engaged for a very short
,
time only, and korai iehly disch aged. though in the
midst of war, at the expiration of their term. The
Gentlemen on the opposite side might, however,
take an exception to these examples, and all.
that the charafter of Swiss, Austrian, or French I
poops, was different from that of the English.
They called him and his ci .leagues a set of
theorises, and so indeed they re-.st be, .t ne part of
mod. in Europe was allowed t. ) be given as an es-
astele. The argnment. perhaps, miga stead good,
were he to mime the ex sonde of China, Japan,
'l'm tary, or such recnore regions; Inn it did oils at all
Apply so countries so near us, and with which we
must he so well acquainted. The example of, the
Inencb monarchy be considered as peculiarly- let-
t:elle ; for 11's one could be ignorant that, in many
respells, and n,iiit.uw points patticularly, it long
served as a model for the surrounding nations ;
hot as the preetoeofthe whole world. andahe di:act
and positive opmions of many high miliary charac-
ter s in this count! y, were egai.ist the con.yeEtion, he
, .'sold consider that point as perfelly at rest. As
t s the third objefti in, which regarded the dischaig-
i•ig the men in time of war, and which he meant next
in advert tn, he had to observe, that all our for-
mer measures were merely temporary expedients,
to rise a foree for the exigencies of the moment.
w. 0 a guy particular regard to its permanent els
' t fed.. We se-nsed, a; it were, absorbed in the
th oigt.ts of .our preservation fir the moment, in
Guarding against present danger, without any refer-
ence •r% the fate of our posterity ; that was the lead-
,ing principle in former measures, but now seem-
ed to be I. st 1.. tne apprehension of the future.
These was olte 'reds( ifICC:IIISICEICy in this mode
lk
el reesonn.g, Clich could not escape any man
why c,onstdered it wit.: attentiun. It was urged.
'that few roct could be raised by this change
in the condition of the service. if this assertion
- were true, the conclusion would be inevitable, that
it only a fee' men were raised, there would be only
a few to he dtsaat ge .1. It was a most eztraordis
use y kind of reasoning, which he heard from the
roma side of the House. that if men were raised
only for the period of twelve teats, we must peri-
od...illy diseherge one seventh of oar army ; hut a
littie reflection would shevr,that no such eted could
•he produced till a future period when all the
danger* of the evils anticipated would probably be
over. Upon the whole, the fed was, that it would
seqtere the lapse of twenty years before such coast-
gin-flees would happen, even supposing that they
(mad result from it. The 1)101O. as IL was now pro-
rased, lei: His *Majesty the option of retaiaiog men
to theserviev tor ten, instead of seven years, as was
'Grit Pthentied ; and the itiycharge of these soldiers, i
at the time specified in their engegements. would
(why be .incarred for the purpese of pocuiieg
superior advantages. No a !vitatage 1. ouid be
gained without rniking some samifice. This
Wee the mamas chic.; produced all the improve-
towns of this country in point of agriculture;
it was the vivifying principle of trade, which led
the , merchants of • his gr, at country to embark in
prejell. of commerce. winch rt quired a present
leaflike, but widch was also one of t!,e main sources
of the wealth and power of Great Britain. Upon
such a sul4eci, the House :tumid not allow
the opinions that may be given by military
offiens, to he by any means decisive. They
were net imperial jnclges. for they telt a peg,.
tome; interest, sash, pethaps, a prides which did not
let them come to it with an unleassed judgment.
An Qtrwer, accustomed and etta•hed to
a r gmient,
*Hoch he was familier with, and may himself have
'colt:butes! to trains would no more wish to have '
any et:lnge in a film grenadier company, consisting
at men, all of five tort ten, or six tectibigb, than a
pet eon being, in the country, and fond of a rani- "
eider row if trees, would .ike to see one of theta
cut down. which may spoil the unitnrmity. He
knew the minds of men to be reluctant to the tn ik-
ion of any sacrifices, of which he was himself •na- -
bled to state a striking instance. The praflice
of turnip husbandry, some time since introduced
into England, rims .ed hitheito almost confined
to the county where it began, because of the
rehillance to make a present sacrifice to the
5..n.-.0 or uncertain speculation of a very pro-
dodtve crop. The blindness of some pet-
stirs sugpsted. and adhered to an old maxim,
e 41,3• erns should get all you can, and keep all you
b..t experience showed, that by keeping all you
het. you lose the chance of ;setting any more. Let the
&Luse consider, what was the situation of the army,
nelson there semis° lima allowed for the term of ser-
vice? The opposersof the 1;41 said, i• you should nevet
seer any seen to get from you in time of war ;" bat
as by the adoption of this principle, the man may be
eternally lost to his triends and his family, cveu if it
•.Vdb to be supposed that at such a period every sol-
act sbeuld claim his d'scharge who was entitkcles-a
,ippositiao not warranted by the example of any age,
..- Any country, or of any service; yet he adhered to i
e opinion, that even that sacrifice shoold be made.
'. le 'yearn lie proposed was one, many parts of
wrath had beets already adopted, an i all parts of
which were before in contemplation. Were there
• teem a danger, which, however, was not the case,
• that a seveuth of the men should be entitled to their
- .:.,charge its the course of tea years, from the pre-
sent period, itill the Legisl ante would retain very
areple means cc remedying that evil. As to the gene-
ral (fee of liniaed service, in pcinr of time, he would
refer the Hoes* to what was well known of the
1!. OAP twiny. The korner custom et the East
sip Company. was to raise soldiers under a stipu-
;.....int, which hal always hewn religiously observed,
that .hey should not be compelled to Wive for more
to --. five yeti. and they recruited so effectually,
• twit •he practice was only put an end to by
tie tievernmeeit, which thought that thee
1.-snes %mere:rad too much with the recruiter,.
rip::: regular army. The erode now proposed,
at to hiss .that a bids was best adapted to
ttt :.:41111ti coestitution, and pep:taxon of this

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country. It wqu!d .itgreduse a new stone, of lire
and vignur into the service. It would rid n of persons
who now found their way into it, such askew:le eon-
vias, aid peiple it a scandalous dcscilption, Art.l
replace them by better classes. such in cline of
danger, th cuntry could with confidence rely in.
['hese considerations, he said, were to be weighed
en each side, and it we. tor tar Committee to con-
sider, that as you canna ehanige your roputatioos.
you must resort to that which you can .4.10„ and
chance yeur condition and term rd service, if you
really mean to render the army mere effeduel than
it is at present, under all the disedvaiireges toetir
which it has latiourecl et 1 ice years, from the high
bounties, and other circumstances, front the tecure
rrince of which. in future, it is so very necessary
to relieve it. Besides; they.. would only be doing
et once, what they had been partially doing for years
past; and, it was to be recolleaedt that the rife& of
an attempt of this sort would arise froiu the impress-
' slots which would be finally made by it on the
minds of the peophr in general ; it wa, by a sort of
reverberation that it would operate, teed men wish.
ing to enlist weuld he mere influenced by the ge-
neral estimation of ethers. as to Ore
than by what they might themselves indivi-
&rally think of i:, In addition to all the in-
I he bad before alluded to, he begged
leave to state the T,WArdle which were intended to be
given as a stilitulus to thaw of a better description
of p•r..ms, than had tinselly been act ustornel to
make the army their Profession ; such as the ilea.
ive !reales., to be etane.] on them after a certain
time of service sees expiied Hedid nut mean the
eleaive frenchi.e to horn's ht, nor to couaties in
Scotland, I.e undeisteed, *ere in many re-
speste, and io different parts of that country, nr.irly
assimilated to boroughs, in their nature and int&
of election ; but to counties in England; he thrught
it might, for retch pus pi-isits, be very fairly and pro-
perly extended to those persons he had just men-
tioned, and he had no doubt but the country would
detrive from it the ai4vantege of drawing men into
the army of a t!iffhrent and superior condition
to what had formerly been used to enlist themselves
for a term of unlimited service, on io other word.,
for life. Ile wruid not Innyen d•-twin the Corn-
miree, than barely to add a very few words on the
inconveniences which it had been mated would
arise to our colonial service, which he was con-
vinced would never be half so great as bad been
represented, which W 01114.1 every yens he growing
less :red kss ; and which were all founded on the
avaricious principle of tefuting to make sacrifices
of present adventegesnin order t ) obtain much
greater and more substantial he.).• tits in future The
Right Flomtiecretary cencludee by moving " that
the oath be made part of the iltil;i'—which being
read front the chair, -
Sir JAMES PULTENEY said, that having
eke idy more than once glvea his opinion on
this suhjeet, he would not at present. trespass
farther on the tirne of the House, than merely
to touch, as shortly as poschln on a few of
those points otitis hewer argument', to which the
Right Hon. Stcretety had alluded on the present
occasioe. The Right Hon. Secretary had intnrmei
the House that he entertained twos that, by this
measure, be would be able to drag men into the
army of a snorior rinse an 4 cruelitims in life;
bur, he could not help *skint( hietiagle Kinour-
able Frien t. whinier he ,dees seriously believe
that men wJI ever ,-mist ;n such circumstances He
was by no m-ens willing to say say tbieg in dime-
, ragemeni of tl e eniple of this cautery. but he would
aporal to the eneeri ince and 'knowledge of the
House, whether the generality of men who enlisted
into the army were net induc.id to do so, either from
Circumstances of ataiiil elvers', or from some
pressure or other, which rendered their staying at
home either irksome or impossible. the mesa
why he prefened the Additional Force Ail was,
that from motives. of some kind or other, men
were inclined to entry for get eral service, though
they at first did so only tor a limited term.
By this meant, the general recruiting for the army
was eminently going on, and, therefore, though he
liked the old system the best, yet, it the opinion of
His Majesty's present Ministers must plev ail, he
world wire. that such as chose it might !Live the
option of enlisting for general service, or for life, and
he would, therefore, be for introducing this 11.
mitation into the second bettelioes. Another
point of the Right lionoprable Secretary's argu-
ment, in which he differed with him widely was.
the experience of otheecountries, and particularly of
France, with respea to the enlisting fir limited
service. He still must repeat what he bad I. 'fore
more than once asserted, that, in general, other
countries enlist their men* for Isfe. P 'er in-
stance, afweys did sn ; and, he believed. Russia also;
and every on. knew very well what cheraiter the
arms-s or those two Nverrs held in the world. The
Right Hououreble Cent eman had said •: at he (sir
J. Pelteney) had made an omission of that great
power, the monarchy of France ; but he bid not
4one eo; plait_ he particularly stood on. and
asserted, was, that 'Owe was no authotity to sheer
that any ceune y had atiopted the preaiee of dis-
charging men during the time of war, with the sole
exception tit the Swiss ; and as to the hlonetehy of
France, be had 'hewn, by the last Ordenad,we it
bad made, in the very year before the Ren.lution
took place (which chreeereate he had read to the
House on a torturer eight, and which it wee,
therefoie, uunecessery to trouble them with Again),
that they had once pars-ad the system of calistine
for !mooed service, and lid Abandoned it. Why
had they done so IL-Decease, horn she Last war
in which they had been then previeesly ragas•
ed. via. the seven years war, ttiey had expert-
cocoa the mischievous and woeful effeas of rt.—
Every one litotes, that in the seven years war the
Fiences a-re renharkebly unsuccessful. and their
armies were. in consevence of their disorderly and
usasoldierltke conduct, held in contempt and deri-
sion by all the powers who had to contend with'
them; the French -nanarchy had therefore given
•p this mode of enlistment, and why we should
take it up, atter they had tiallt abandoecd it, from
the experience of its mischievous effean was a mat-
ter far which he was at a loss w • accouut. By the
very circumstance ef being enriiked to he discharged
Jain the war, the men woad become less oil-
dies's, and mdse citte-in —their minds wr.:ll-1 be
turned to the ease and comforts of home, more par-
ticulatly, a the expiration of UM term slacw 'to-

wzds•st close ; and by those means, they would
shrink from the necessary
degree of discipline.
which can alone conititure a good soldier,. and Le
rendered, in A considerable degree. uqr for service,
for some Cline before 41:ey we:c discharged. As to
the written opinion h. bad given, he denied there
was any inconsistency in it ; for at that time, he felt
a sinall• inclination towards enlisting for limited
service. Provided they were not to be diathesis:4
during the war, hut on no other "conlition whateecr.
Another, point was. the Right Hon. Gentleman had
said, the number of men to be discharged annually,
would not amount to more than I- 121-11; but what-
ever the tinmher may be, that added to- the other
casualties. which are continually GCCllrting to lessen
and diminish the army. could not fail to be severely
telt ; for it would not only be a certain number of
men that would so often be lost to the army, but
they would he the best men, and most important to
the army toi hAre testified ; they will be 1210
the bent disciplined, the most inured to ser-
vice, as well as to different climates, and such,
in short, as it would take years to replace with
hien equally efficient ; and, therefore, to discharge
such own, would be attended with incalcol.stle mis-
chiefs and injury to the service. He • would oniy
trouble the Committee further with a very few
words as to what had been said by the Right lion.
Gent. ai to the general amelioration of the army.which this new plan was to circa. Re believed
)
their must be a great change in the sentim is of
e the people in this country, before you can et a
better description of persons to enlist intcythe tarty ;
and the idea that limiting the .neyice t• air taw
of seven years, would do it.' fried n.ade no impres-
sion on his mind ; and he verily believed, it would
not be inure successful in the impression it would
make on the minds of the propls:; and if it did not,
'it would be giving up a certainty, which had always,
proved highly efficacious, poth towards the re-
cruiting and the discipline of the army for an
innovation, the success of which was doubtful and
uncertain, and the failure of which could mit but be
pregnant with serious and important consequences.
The last French Ordeedvaive for limited service was
fro. eight years, but did not admit of a longer term;
but then it was expressiy ordered thereby, thnt no
man thotild be entitled to his discharge durmg the
continuance of the war. He :roped. therefore, the
Right Hun. Gentleman, and His Majesty's other
Ministers, would pause. an.: consider the measure
mote maturely before they adopted it; btu if it
must at all events be resented to, he hoped they
would let the recruiting for gene-al service go on as
before, and only take this in aiu of it, leaving it to
the option of those who might choose it, to enlist
for general or limited service, as they thought best.
Mt. YORILE said, he had with pleasete waited
to hear the opinion of the Hon. General who had
just sat down, and he thought His Majesty's Minis-i
tern nog it to wish, as he did, to hear the opinions
of a great many generals in our service, before they
ventured, ra•hly, to adopt a plan which appealed
to Lint 1 raught with so many difficulties, and liable
to in many injurious consequences--.a plan which ap-
peared to him to be of a very alarming nature in-
defici, and on which he hoped the House would, .tat.
least, pause, be tore they santlioaed it with tlvir ap-
probation. For his own part, he had listened with
she greatest attention, to the long, and, ha runts
owe t, very able speeen, tit the Right I ion. Gentled
man, though without being a, all convinced by chi
arguments he had therein made use or. The quest
stun then before the Committee was, whethe'r then
should leave out a Claute, that bad 4lway, hitherui
been usual in the Mutiny 801, for the purpose 'of
introdueiog tine, which he feared would be prpa
dative of much and serious misch•ef I 'He
had entertained a hope, from the giit length
of time which Ministers had t.tken before they
brought forward this plan, that they woo
have re-consulted a great number of General
Office?s on the subjett, and have come to the House
fortified and supported by some such important an-
thlrity ; but as he found, unfortunately, that was not
the case, bat that they were determined to intro-
duc,e so very alarming an innovation, he roust pro-
test against it, arid be telt himself bound to do so, on
the principle of public duly ; and, as the Right
Hon. Gentleman (.Ir. iVindnam) had alluded to a
speech %voids he had delivered on a form r night,
he would repeat it, " that His Majesty's Ministers •
ought to be cautious and guarded in what they did
on this subject, as they were tee swim n servants
of the Crown, and bound to give His Majesty the
best and most constitutional advice ;" and that
he, as one of His Majesty's Council, considered
himself as a sworn servant also, and bound to
give His Majesty the best advice, on that and
every other subject, that he was able to do.—
Before he proceeded to answer the arguments urged
by the Right Hon. Secretary tins evening, he
thought it necessary to trouble the House with a
few preliminary observations, by way of ohjetlion
to the measure. In the first place, he thought it
extremely wrong, that such a matter as this should
be env ailed on the Mutiny Biil—it was, in his opi-
nion, highly uncemstittnienal. 'The Right Honour-
able Gentleman had himself laid down the position,
that the House should not legislate at any time on
things that were unnecessary. If so, why might
not this matter have been settled and done by His
Majesty. in virtue of his peer igative, instead if
being dieted by the Legislature. Is there any
doubt of the f ith of Government now, more than
has been entertained at any former period t Has
riot the Ki, g, by his prerogative, a right to
-make rules and regulations for the coodua and
dist:Wine of the army ? If so, be insisted it
was extremely wrong to introduce any sun jet
relative to the eonduet of the soldiers, to the view
and consideration of the Legislature. There were
only two cases on this point, similar to the present,
and. in his opinian. they said not much in favour
of it. One of them was in the reign of Queen Anne,
during the worst part of the latter mid of it, un-
der the administration of I.ord Bolingbroke. The
other, in Lord North's administration, dating the
American war. They were, however, both very
had. precedents. The present measure, though of a
similar nature, was uch worse ; and the tacking
it to the Nlutiny Bkl, very wrong indeed. as it
was nisei gin unfair advantage of the House ; it
bremg well known, that the Mutiny Bill must he
passed within a certain limited time, and, thee fore.
a sufficient perioa could not be led far mature
st.nsideration and debate en it. And, tail more

reprelidtsible wai it, that it went, in a atrinO p
degree, to stop the exercise of the King's undooleed
twerogotive, if he should find it prr dent or Deets. ery
to eit.rt it, of showing his disapprobation, by putiii g
his rote on the Bill. Should His Majesty be so it,_
clioed.in the present case, bow was he to do it fogy
engrafting It on the Mutiny-bill, they take away ail
possibility of the use oft.hat part of the prerogative,
vested 4y. the Crinstitution its I lis Majesty ; for,
"Virsis to use it, the Bill could not pass wiLhi.,
ite eeeessary period, and the army would be d.,.
banded.' . Ha 441 not flatter himself, that any t!;;:o
he could say, was likely to have tried, much le
did he suppose it could pooiLly ioduce Ministos ta
give up theft plan. He had obserrod, that at:me .1
thetn.were very saeguir e in the formation of measure:,
anel, when s:. formed, as pertinacieus in their adhet.
ence to them ; he coold nut. therefore, hope eve" to
delay the present rneuSure, but i.e would, at kast,
do his ditty to the country by opposing it, and
abetting it in its tine colours. The Bight Hon.
Gentleman had stated to the Conunittee that be
Looked on this as a permanent provision, and o
-which won't! operate a roost ameliniarion in the
stole of the army. If sn, tthy hurt y it on is
way ? Why not Live more time for a Nil te.
W
consideration of d? Why not suffer it to lay too
till next Session, when they might. in the esteem,
have the opinions of General Officers; and not, by
tacking it to the Mtititor Bill, thus attempt to Usti.
Anti, as it were. force the House to adopt it. Ile
hoped, however, they would tacit/say ;mistier the
subject, and pause before they wet* prevailed on to
edopt.an innovation so truly alarming, and preg.
nant with so many mischievous consequences.—
' Innovation was highly dingerous, either in the army
or navy ; and, in times like the present, replete
with difficulties and peril, ought never to be re.
sorted to, unless it was certain there was a sttorr
likelihood of its being attended with sAlatary and
beneficial cffe.lti. He had listened attentively, mid
had not heard any one fat stated. which prove!,
or could rho- hint, a hope of nny such effete. lie
would endeavour to state what was the situati • n of
the army at the present moment ; ood in so duic..g.
he amid vouch it w.s allowed, by the best judge,
that a. no former period was it ever in a higher or
',fetter state of disciplino It amt anted, in pc.irt of
I o
olutubers, in cavalry and infantry, to 150.000 suet„
of which about 14 or 15,000 were for limited ser-
vice. On the Stich of Jane. 1801, there were
wanting, to complete the army to the full establish.
ment. 41,840 rank and file; hut, by canons of the
Army of kleaotre, the Additional Force Ati, &r.
that deficiency was not.at present above hso,olio
men ; and as there must always be a 8o ring deli-
cieecy, he celculatestooffert the Additional Force
Aa had bi en entwined, that deficiency, in a shoo
time. ,would be lets than 30,000. The Might Hoe.
Gentleman then went into a statronent. to strew tbt
difference in the' amount of the anwr at the pre-
' sent period, and to that of the American war.—
He calculated 'the rota] the casualties on as
average of the three first years of the present wa:,
taking the ter.ole oony at 150.0r0 mess, to be about
13,000, Or a twelfth pait t and that the measure
ad .ptedfm supply:so thedefteirneies, would produce
35,000 men. Since the time of King William, wish
the Inception of the owo short periods of Quo'
Anne,- arid during Lord North's Administrate:li
des roods adopted had main oily beetrth4 of on-
lisonisnt for unlimited s.evice. He denied that
thete had ever been an enhomeet far life. It wAs
known to evety one, that a man hofiieg served 24
years, hod a right to demand his diseharge ; all
the term of his service was geherally looked upon
to be as long as he•wa: capable of serving his
King and Country, or as long as they had occasion
for his service; but• it never was supposed. that.
at ail events; he was enlisted ltettife. He thee no-
ticed the alteration a-tempted in the 12th year of
Queen Anne, when a clause was adopted in the
.funny Bill, similar iu of to the pr-otnt, under
the administration of Lord Roliorbroke—by which
the soldier eves !holed to demand his discharge
at the end of three years, by giving thee:. months
notice to his Colonel. It was. lonever, to be
recolleffed, that this measure was not then adopted
, in time of war, and wer.t only to the existit g army.
I This regulation, however. did not last above ten
years ; for as soon as the Whiz Ministers of the
House of Hanover came in, thiscreuse was left out of
the Mutiny 13111, and had continued to be so till the
other case in the knierican war. If, as had been ge-
nerallybelieved,Lord Bolingbroke wished to coded,
the House of Hanover, and to favour the interests
of the Pretender, I.e amid not postibly have
adopted a measure more likely to give dice to his
purpose. He stated this, he said, that the
House might see its beariog on the present case--
The other instance was in the American war, art ;
then the men were enlisted for three yea-s,
during the rebellion. That system prevailed foori
1775, to the end of the war ; ht. be Goverentent
did not think it necessary to ink ..duce it into
ice
Mutiny Bill. as in the present case; tho Right Hen.
Gentleman had said, that the army was brought
iron disrepute by four felons having been allowed so
be enlisted into it. He was. lie owne.l, Much sur-
prised at such a declaration, ma.ie in the presmt
moment ; for it was universally well known. ILA!.
though the enlistment of felons and others cri-
minally irnplicaied had been, from time to time,
resorted to. in ail periods. since the time of King
William; yet, it is well knows also, that the prac-
tice had peen, for many years, totally exploded s
and no such ehArearrs had been admitted into the
army. He then stated. that the ordinary and extra.
ordinary recruiting, I,y I.ledinS of the Atmy of Re-
serve AO, bad furnished the ccuntry with a total of
'23,470 men a year, and thereby denied the asser-
tion of the Right Honourohle Secretary. that the
Army of Reserve had cut up the recruiting
of the Regular Army. It bad. on the coo-
troll, very mach assisted it. He admired, o•
much as any on the brilliant sallies of the Right
Houoneable Secretary's wit ; but wh'ie he 'tray
so profuse of that, he must say, be would rathe
have a little serious argument few ploin, una
domed, simple matters of fat—there is an old as
trite saying, tt let us be wily and wise; and a let
stubborn fails in support of the beneficial &teas t:
be expeaed from this measure. world nate ma.
slid weight, and convey more real ihforrnation
the House, than the most splendid effusimis of
theoretical and speculative fancy, though surround
al by the fascinating ornaments of wit and Lo:T.:k;•