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London, England, 1805-02-16 00:00:00

be sufficient
opinion, the
feetly agreed .
of the promises
piesenx Istinisbn
of the country
It would appear
occupied with thei. e attempts to annoy t.
enemy, and their catamaran expeditions ; in these,
all other considerations seemed to be absorbed with

Ministers. If the additional force required by this
Bill was to be the test of the efficiency and talent of
the present measures, never could there exist a mere
complete decision against them than would appear
by the.present Bill ; inasmuch as it was a complete
failure, and so far a triumph for those to whom they
were opposed. He was astonished at the Noble
Ball's arguing as if the measure was to be persisted
in ; the events had amply decided upon its Merits;
the sense of this parr of the country was completely
against it ; and Inch was, in the first instance, ex-
pressed he its representatives.
The Doke of C'U'MBERLAND begged the at-
tention of tile House a moment ; some expressions
had fallen from the Noble Lord who spoke last,
which hie, consistently with the rank he had the honour
to hold in the army, could not silently pass over.
He must protest against the idea of any man what-
ever being trepanntalinto His Majesty's service; if
be thought the Bill had such an effeft, he should
be one of the last to support it.
The Earl of WES TMOR ELAND contended.
that the measure •in question could not be fairly
considered merely by itself, but that the circum-
stances of the period in which it was framed, and
those which have since accompanied its progress,
should be taken into consideration. In adverting to
some of those, regard must necessarily be had to
the merits of some of His Majesty's present Minis-
ters, and the House would recolleft the exertions
Inside by them in the early periods of the war, to
defend the country against the threatened invasion.
AIM on that occasion, he must contend, the exer-
tions made and the effefts produced were unparal-
Wed in its annals. Their Lordships would recoi-
led, that in consequence of the peace, the Militia,
the Fencibles, and the greater part of the Regular
Army, were reduced. With tespeft to the Militia
force, it may be regarded, on the breaking out
of the war, as nothing ; and yet, from that period,
to the expiration of the year, a Militia force of
90,000 men was procured. Added to this, was
en unprecelentedly large number of seamen and
marines; in fait, upon the whole, in the course of
fifteen months, a force of not less than 200,n00
men was collated. As these exertions, however bee
neficial in the main, were unavoidably attended aids
some ineoneeniencies ; the principal of those were,
the excessive high prices, is consequence of the re-
peated ballots. The consequences of the projal
el-
the Army of Reserve were nest to be considered, and
this proved a fruitful source of supply to the Re-
gular Array. And the number of men procured
this mode, added to the injurious effedts which
resulted from the frequent ballots, may be reckoned
among the prominent causes, why all the benefi-
cial elites. which might reasonably be expeCted
from the measaare in question, did not accrue in the
fine instance ; in souse cases, those advantages
which were hoped did not arite, but it was not ex-
that the bill would operate to its full extent
• y. The injurious ccuaidenations to which
S.- •
. tagvetted, were not at once to be got rid of ;
this, y, world be gradually obviated. It was
glee meeteartthat these parts of the country should
be ascertained in which the Bill was most likely to
operate extensively; and, the consequent arrange-
Merits necessary in suds cases take up a great deal
of Oar. It was within a few weeks only that the
Sill had become fully an operative measure, and,
within that period, if the accounts were resorted to,
an extraordinary number of recruits, it would ap-
pear, were obtained. Wi.hin the last fortnight, no
fewer than 600 men were procured ; and, it things
went at a similar rate for about a year, 15,000 men,
at least, would be plumed. The measure was
framed in such a way, as that its operation would
not interfere with the other sources for the supply
of our military force. Adverting to what fell from
Noble Lords, at the other side, expressive of their
present opinions of part of the existing Administra-
tion, he observed, it *as not very long since some
of them, at least, held a very different language.
With them the talents aid eloquence of a Right
Honourable Gentleman, the vigour and energies
of his charafter, if brought again into admini-
stration, would restore the tarnished honour of
the country, and revive its drooping spirit.—
These waited but his return to office, to effeft
all this. His powers, in that respeft, seemed to
be regarded by some, as not inferior to those at-
tributed to Jupiter in the Heathen Mythology. Did
he once appear, new life and vigour would be in-
fused into every branch of the military service, ant;
every department of the state : but by some unfor-
tunate and then unforeseen accident, like the ephe-
meral properties of a meteor, these admirable quali-
ties seem all eclipsed, in the eyes of those whom he
alluded to. Let the Noble Lords explain the
causes of these apparent akerations, if they can.
The interruptions which they were Filtered oc-
casionally to offer, should not perplex him, or
draw him from the chain of his argument. He
contended that the measure in question, so far from
prejudicing or lines feting with the other branches
of the recruiting service, would contribute to give
them additional efficacy. In consequence of some
appearances at the other side of the House, the
Noble Earl observed, that the charge of coalition
proceeded with an extraordinary grace, indeed,
from some Noble Lords opposite to him. Political
men, without hazard of very severe censure. He
coalesced, although he had differed upon one or two
measures, or political subjeas, or he might have
differed respeeting this or some former Bill, but it
would require all their ingunui.y to give a satiefac-
tory and convincing reason why those should coa-
lesce and unite who had pointedly differed upon
every topic and upon every principle which had
come under consideration, ever since their poli-
tical existence! Recurring again to the sub-
jeft under consideration, he contended that the
effeets of the gill, as far as it had a fair op-
portunity of operating, were beneficial ; that
ham recent circumstances, and by what they had
to look to prospeetively, there was every right to
assume it would ha still more so; that, as the mili-
tary force at nresent stood, the troops were equally

I

A present
Militia Afts ; the Ariny of Reserve, or to restore
the former praetice of balloting ? All these import-
ant queries should be satisfalorily answered, before
they should think of repealing the measure under
consideration. There was another objeetion, name-
ly, that by repealing the present Bill, one part of
the United Kingdom would be placed under a differ-
ent military system from the other; and the evils
which might possibly result from suck a consider-
ation, were too obvious to be pointed out. On
these, and other grounds, which he should not take
up their Lordships' time by reciting, he was in-
duced to give the Noble Earl's Motion a dire&

negative.
Earl SPENCER began, by assuring their Lord-
ships, that he never since his first entrance into par-
liament rose with more real satisfaetion to give his
support to any motion than that which had th:.
night been made by his noble friend for the repeal
of this aft. He felt himself particularly easy in
saying this, because he was certain it must be in the
recolleetion of every noble Lord who was present,
when he delivered his sentiments on this bill in its
passage through the house in the course of the last
session, that the arguments he had used against the
bill then, had since been, every one of them, found to
be verified. No hill had ever been introduced in either
House of Parliament with a more pompous and mag-
nificent display of the benefits to be derived from it,
and the energies it was to put in force. it was
brought forward on the spur of what was said to be a
most important. occasion, when the country was al-
lowed to be in the most immediate and imminent
danger of an invasion, and, indeed, so much, that a
month, a day, or even an hour was not to be lost in
adopting measures for the most speedy and effedual
Means of increasing the army of the country, and
that part of it in.particular, which is called the dis-
pmeable force. At that moment. his Lordship
mid, he and other Noble Friends of his, with whom
they laded, saw on the first fair and mature con-
sideration of its provisions, that se far from
answering the important purposes for which it
was intended, it would have the dire& con- ,
trary of e& and would be infinitely more inju-
rious to the military service of the country than
those measures which were proposed for that end by
His Majesty's then Ministers, whom it was a prin-
cipal and primary means of driving from their
official situations. Seeing it clearly in that light.
his Lordship said he felt it to be his duty to his
country, as a Lord of Parliament, to give it his
most decided opposition, and that too in every
stage ; and, he appealed to their Lordships to say.
whether the reasons he had then adduced against it,
but which he would not now trespass on their Lord-
ships' time by repeating, had not been since prov-
ed to be but too true He remembered though,
that one objedion which he had very pointedly
urged against it was, that it went to take away the
ballot, to overturn the system of the Army of Re-
serve, which had. *to a certain degree, been success-
ful, and which, therefore, their Lordships should not
epee to risk losing the benefit of, unless by sonic
measure, that gave at least a prospeet of proving
effedual, which he then insisted this Bill did net. He
was therefore the more surprised, when be heard
what had fallen from a Noble Earl opposite to him
(Westmorland), in support of this Bill, which alto-
gether overthrew the Army of Reserve, and all
the other military measures, which had been the
greatest favourites of that Administration, of
which the Noble Earl formed a part. He
had then foretold what would be the operation
of the Hill, though he did, from his opinion
having since been proved to he true, aspire to the
title of prophet ; for he was sorry to say that, such
was the flueluation of events at the present mo-
mentous crisis, he mug suppose himself a very
wise man indeed who would venture to phnpliesy
on their results. The fldl, however, had soon been
found to verify all that had been said of it, and to
have entirely failed in effediag an increase of the
army. In the course of the first two months, with-
out using any particular curiosity on the subjed,
there was WI, has believed, one of their Lordships
who did not know its tnifottunate fate, at least in
the county in which he resided ; and no one person
in the whole kingdom had an opportunity of
knowing it more pointedly and forcibly than the
Right Hon Gentleman, who was the father of it ;
and from the astonishing deficit which took place in
the very distrid over which Ise presided. He had
hitherto, however, confined himself to the objedions
he had to it, as a bill intended to increase the mili-
tary force of the country, by raising men for its ser-
vice. There were, however, much stronger argu-
menu urged again it, and the principal of these
was, that, under the pretence of raising men, it
went rather to the purpose of raising money upon:the
country. This had been strenuously denied to be
the case, by thoor who supported it I but it had ami
tually turned out to be the lad, and now formed
one of the strongest arguraents that could be used
in favgur of the motion masse by his Noble Friend
near hirm for its repeal. As a bill for raising men,
no one can deny that ithas totally faded of its pin-
! pox ; and if it. was a biU for raising money, nothing
Ise
could be more clear, than that it was deserving the
highest reprehension, for it was infinitely partial and
unequal, and fell, with an unexampled degree of
weight and severity, onahat description of person',
which it ought least to touch, viz. the landed pen-
prietorsof the country ; and he insisted that another
Noble Friend -near him (Ism, King) was perfedly
right in styling it a measure of taxation, which fell
not upon proporty equally and generally, but on the
ratio of population ; and the instances which that
Noble Lord had produced, in support and.illustra-
lion of his arguments, were conclusive and man-
, swerable. His Lordship then adverted to the very
defedive and unjust mode resorted to by .the bill of
recruiting for the army, in the several parishes,
through the medium, and by means of; Parish
'Officers. Those regular Officals who were ap-
pointed to that service by the army, ware gene-
rally Gentlemen who weltuncerstood that parti-
cular ditty, and. by attention and experience. were
enabled to form a pretty good judgment, which was
a good man, and such as might be trusted, and

. . .
• .
•
icient to determine him against it ;in his fit, in poirt,e4 pOliwainstiOlhifor filillitad or illierate Whith
, the measure had totally failed. He per- service; fed thakihere wateverypteiped of their opporti
greed with his Noble Friend in his contrast being able,. eh teo thraug*the wledium of the bill,. tereatet
sromises and performances of His Majesty's to get a very large disposable force.. The measure but the
- Ministers, .the regisher and:vim-lent -tome ef •repealing!.ba..l3iU would. under .the present mi- , and mi
country gained little by their' exertions. litary system, be hazardous in the extreme; the frame to retu
Id appear as if their attention was wholly of the existing military establishments would be the pat
id with their abortive attempts to annoy the shaken by it: weeetheyprepanid to repeal the present Noble
1' IN A.-. ....• .-.... till. Rid