The Sun.
London, England, 1852-04-24 00:00:00

was irrevocably secured; and if the present Government
recognised this truth, he thought the sympathies ot"the
country would carry ..teheut triumphantly through the
next Parliament.—(Hear, heir.) Whether the present
Government adopted this course or not he. took his stand
as a liberal conservative free-trader.—(Cheers.) He
proposed to give his support to any Administration based
upon liberal..eonsereatiem, and he would support the
present. Government until they attempted to rubvert
• that policy which was ineugurated and subsequaoily
carried by Sir Robert Peel, seed which had endeared his
name in the affectionate recollection of hundreds of
. thousands of the . people of ibis country. HP-
. verting to the subject from which he had thus digressed
- he thought he had a right to ask the House ot Commons
what was the reason ot their present moat extraordinary
peace establishment. The drift of public affstre,
did not exp'ain it. When Prince Schweiz u
berg was at Vienna, his well-known enmity to E -gland
might make precaution neeeesery, A ut he 3dealtfed that
when the Noble Gard the 11..nber for Tiverton sounded
the alarm, difficulties did ext-t, bat at the present Wu_
ment these difficulties ha i most materially diminished,
and there was scarce left a ripple now on the muddy
waters of Earopeen
politics.—(Capers.) The only plea-
for the increase of these military and naval esteblish.
of sudden ineaden by the
meats was the possibility
troops threagh the me hum veep!) ;sewers
transport of troo
He asserted that this c.matry was IQ 4. p () repeat,
the lesson of sae hid ever eiv in to all na-
tions that competed with her. it, would like to know
what was sudden invasiou? The Noble Lord the Nbrou-
ber for There n had ventured to
best ogoieveta ii
hemisLt,rti: welchin
He said that they net to provide r
might happen not st the end of six or eight menu's, but
a danger which might .arise in a fertnight or a menth.
He asked him if he received intelligence that 100,000
Frenchmen were to bi-! landed in this country in a f. rt-
.
night, would he believe it ?_.(Heir, hear)--or it he did,
of what use where thus,. ,geros tit dtplomacy who had
. been termed licen,erl spies, whose dutt it was to tnaintain
• watchful eyes over the interests of ,his country ?It was
impossible that the, necessary preparations cold eseepe
. their viginnce. Bet-thete Wes another check. To his
personal knowledge the .pres, of this country was sin-
gularly energetic in obtaining, and singularly correct in'
its information. Before Government c .uld receive of-
ficial intimation of en event the press had made it public.
If the watchful eyes of the licensed spies were deceived,
could the vigirance of the press be lulled. He thought
it could not. However, there was a more sanative
chain for communicating intelligence. He alluded to
.... those commercial relations which bound nations more,
together than thidiplomaetiof Cabinets or the intrigues
of statesmen. The merchant at Odessa, at Marseilles,
• or Manchester., would soon obtain the required informs--
tion„ nor would he be backward in forwarding it to his
Government. tie, was the last person who would wish to
disown the advantages which accrued from a militia. All-
be meant to say was, that if there was any danger now, he
would greatly prefer to see some 10.000 men added to the-
, regular army. He thought that the country would be thus
more efficiently served, and with less disarrangement to
the social economy of the nation. Then came that great
.difficulty; a standing army impoverished the nations
Sir H. Peel, upon-this subject, in 1841, said:—" What
is the:advantage of increasing your establishments?
other nations will follow your example, and you will
obtain no real amount of advantage more than you now
possess. By maintaining a standing army you are de-
priving peace of half its advantages, and extirpating the
energies of war before occasion req Ares." He repeated,
that he had no desire to deprecate the utility of militia-
men; from personal as well as historical information, he
could not feel justified in so doing. He had himself
seen, in the space of four weeks, an army of 100.000
!anted and torn from their domestic comforts to engage
' se, in battle at the call of their country. That strife was
happily terminated, and he had seen them peacefully
return to their domestic hearths. In the glowing pages
..of Micianlay they would find recorded the gallantry of
the Somersetshire militiamen in the Monmoutb struggle,
where they drove the enemy from the field, and only lost
the victory from a want of ammunition. Lord Mahon, in
his history of American independence, records the bra-
. Very of the Massachusetts militiamen, who gained the vic-
tory at Bunker's Hill; and Washington hail gained his
brilliant reputation at the head of militiamen. Washing-
Jun, first acquired his hrillient reputation at the head of
militiamen in the Canadian war, aid obtained the
success of Bunker's Hill with in n called out only for
One yearee-(Heer.) He made these observattons for the
Purpose of showing that with his personal experience,
and information derived f om historical resources, he was
far from depreciating the value or efficiency of a militia
sole from the Ministerial benches)--eith this
lc" dlf,renee, that he only considered them of value in
countries where there was no standing army. Wnere
rally
there was a standing army contenions aid strifes gene-
exised between the regular sottier and the milt-
tiaa'sn, which it was very difficult, if net impossible, to
quell.--(l3,ar, hear.) They had seen it in Spain, and
fa) had een a mere marked instance in the struggle
• • r
the itd of Prtr•sia. Between 1813 and
1815 ern puce
Ani'listit *fir was untver-a ly organized, and great
111051il• ens lly 'xi:twede between the hind wehr and the regular
"ow an
drawback
Heel.) Besides that there was one
eufawbeck to this sys em of embodying a militia
toy"t Productive industry
alof th
hoe courrry
rh .ri was
timed directly
it
might"! bY withdraw—wever ly
be`hy the wi bdrawel, unless, itnrnin.nt danger
ti. nbpending, 'if such a large number of men from
• "'le done atie home. and the ordinary .vcupsti.l3B of life.
--o(Cheers from ,the Opposition.) It was for these rea-
a
Bi-4 Cae"ing England in the happy enj ywent of the tees-
. eels of protound peace with all her neighbours, with every
state, that he ventured to record Lis humble
?ejections to this Bill. In an economical point of view,
ne.regretted this vast expenditure of public money,
Which circumstances did not justify nor political expe-
?itioet necessitate.—(Hear, hear.) And be would re-
JToe to see this Bill abandoned, which, under the altered
cireuthstancss of Government, he considered would be
se
Perfectly justifiable—nay, honourable—to her Majesty's.
from securing
Furth( r, he maintained that, tat
role
peace, it would have a direct tendency to
leaps and e
• that they might rest assured the men whom it
Was now proposed to embody would be not one iota less:
41)4*, without these summer drills and preparatory
exercises to respond with patriotic zeal to the call of
their country wben needed...—(Cheers.) And be was
• quite certain that if any foreign force should attempt to
Pollute these sacred short sot England—if any attempt
should be made with an invading army to ravage, fire,
• and Pillage, one ruling cry would .re-echoahroughout
every nook and corner of this island, one spirit would.
-animate every British heart, and countless thousands on
the southern coasts of England would demand enthu-
Ifytstio homage as a nation of warriors called together in
the most sacred cause—that of national independence.—
, (Vehement cheering, followed by calls for a division.)
• Colonel CLIATTERTON, as a military man, and in
11n1qitary point of view, begged to tiff-r a few observe-.,.0 .
.us upon the matter now under discussion. He was
quite aware of the diversity of opinion existing as to the
expediency of augmenting the standing army, or erne bodying the regular militia. He was quite aware of the
Unpopularity of the soldiery in this country, and also that
Englishmen did not understand their value; and be
trusted they never would acquire that knowledge by the
dear. bought experience. of having a hostile force in poi
session of any part of Our country. Ho
vase quite con-
Vincedi that his Right Hon. Friend had exercised a sound
d
ecretiou in bringing forward his Bill, and it should
boungvgeeheitsswarm support ; but in doing so he would beg to
•„molt Rouniet,ementleuente ir the conideration of his
bait Judging trim the experience he
• the rieriee et tea, net a little, he. was quite convamed
period of tweet _-.g was tar to.' haste d. I the short
. indeed learn 4-ogh days an E gli.tnean would
tary duty. isT,.a,rittti., if a,:ytaing, of [D
. manufacturer had that the English peasant nor
vice which was p it:Reseed hpitude for military eer-
,.,` the continental nations, ,°Y the people of aim et ail
recommend that three ,011`-'."„
ashould, therefore, beg to
vbe.nntaevefottar ti.hrye 6torsbtriynegarthoef
as the period' of
allfeat, be fixed upon
as that time would
enrolment.
recruit into anything
He would
. also recommend the sticidsrd tee 7.1 4/.laPat
else if it were continued at netsers to he raised,
'd. find there-
... inches, he feared his RIO' T':Le'lvndhiz'T3 of
5 fait
5
gitnents (of the first levy, at lest)r
sieluw
tow, miserable, dissipated cre.it„„B, with ith ,et of
Manufacturing districts .boundad, woo., o,io,evyt. which ~ur
stamina, nor chatecter to rectimmeed thi un,tir";(cgth,
Unable to carry the heavy aecou,resseats of a
. ty ()ur
• Use with any effic th comb, us arm, with „ nhseh r
infantry were encumbered. H b.ggeti to r these.
suggestions for his It.ght Hon. Friend's considers,
~and he would also take leave to ask wtiatm.ezin!
ebe
Intend+ d to adopt for the prceecien of the most
• table part of her Mai-sty's deminiens, Ireland. H.,
• Bight Hon. Friend would doubtless carry in his
recol-
'not on that that. country had been thrice invaded by a
• • foreign enemy, and no doubt would again upon the first
9PPOrtuuity. At present ehe was quite in a_deleneeless
army
!tekte, with neither nor navy. As regarded the
latterof the city be had the
the magnificent harbour ,
otter
to represent had only one line-of-battle ship
th •
ere
to
a 58 screw steamer, with a crew euffis.
Croat to man' half her guns, . end so short-banded
•-• she,
i • not go to sea, He could not for a moment
imagine his Right Honourable Friend could doubt the
:Zll°3!.lllty of the Irish nation, or fear putting arms in their,
~thlt:ds in their own country;_ nor could he subscribe to
• from the operation of this Bill was meent. as a panacea
ajoen. a
allnthe wounded feelings' of Ireland at this excill'
e rejoiced a; one advantage gained by this Bill,
eitillake,l,.7s,. doing away that most useless and expensive
hro,autlntnent, the militia staff. He ever thought it a
11,.•_13a extravagant waste of the public money; keeping it
petitle, nucleus upon which to form the militia was a
farce composed as it was of, •
oneo . in general, old, fat,
leag
since
officers, whose military ardour had
dolouo evaporated—who would have to commence
all drill, to enable them to teach others the newly
ade
Pted military syste.m, and even then they would
most likely a kis__ ,er 3, be ineffective. He begged he naiefit not •be
„,•ireethol stood; he did not intend:et/mit either slur or
couereet!tion upon the militia; on the contrary, he hoe
their, n,ild respected that national force—he had seen
4,11;e11, u
t ~!" 0 and knew their utility.-(Hear, hear.) His
ellonoure.blo Friend said, a few evenings ago, that
S. eard that some militiamen were at the battle
ore 4,saverai in their militia uniforms. His R h
tg t
eriena was
perfectly correct, for ever since. the
I)°•sd'alld •
no, the ht. wing the militia to volunteer into_ _the
. • volistertiittter weie admirably supplied with excellent
I§,e4tthe arm Re assured the House, in military parlance,
ietite terk hui,sreatly regretted those gallant men ar-
.‘(Pktitt and cr to be blouded" at that . glorious, hard.
could heee owniug victory_; where, no doubt,. they
~N equal roved that -the textan
otet very Roe acting_ together,
di.cipline to any of .our
euse ert He iloyed his Right H in. Friend would
igeee.
aria heat he (itelenei etteertoo) bd.('
sac rusted the House rd him. tor oq Aptod 6, • wou pa
• .3111114'tt tkeir tune'. giw.' 4
4.414 • 'a if- I.