The Sun.
London, England, 1806-05-31 00:00:00

one side of the queStion, whether they ought not to
pause before -they. should -again.consent to adopt- it ?
He came then to consider a Paper that had been
presented that day, which when it should he print-
ed would give Oenitlemen much useful infimna-
tion. Tay this Paper it appeared, that the. num-
bers wanted in,178 t, to complete' the Army to its
establishment, exclusive of cavalry, which at that
time did not exceed 5,000, was 2,5,279 ; in:1782,
was
.22,000,: and in 1783,. was 20,000, being one-
fourth of. the whole, then 101,116 men, whereas
the .number now deficient of a force of 150,000,
was only one-fifth, a circumstance for which they
,were indebted to the salutary operation Of.those mea-
sures' that had been so much abused. He would
ask any man, whether the system proposed Would
afford a prospect of supplying the ordinary and ex- •
traordinary casualties of the Army ? In the debates on
the Peace in 1783, it bad been stated in that and ano-
ther House in justification ofits terms, without a eon-
tradiCtion, that the Army wanted 30,000 men of its
complement. Another consequence of the enlistment
for limited service had been the production of a spirit
of mutiny in the Troops, which had called for the
marked notice of that House. He could instance the
condu& of the'77th Regiment at Portsmouth. The
state of the Army, and of the Einances of the Conn-
try, .was disorganised after the American War, and -
when party spirit should subside, justice would be
done to that great. man that had brought, both back
from their disorganised state. As to the Right Hon.
Gentleman'sassertion that the measure would have no
effect on the charaderof the Soldier, he was convinced
when. the Soldier had a definitive time to look to for
his discharge, he would feel uneasy, and consequently
hot ,perform his clUty with alaCrity. That had been
the case. With, the Militia when enlisted for three
years, until in, the year 1781, a change , was made
by engaging during the War, which made them
look to the service as to a profession. He'was sur-
prised to find that the Right Honourable Gentleman
stated only as he had before opened, his plan,,
without any explanation of the mode in which
, he expeCted to get rid of the incOnvehiencies of it.
The Right Hon. Gentleman had stated, in his open-
: ing speech, that in case of a. Regiment entering on'
foreign service, the men whose terms were near ex-
piring might be drafted into second battalions. The
fad was, that 'most of the perioi for which he pro-
pose&to engage men, would be in their, voyage ont
and home,,. and the seasoning the men to the cli-
mate, so that very little would be gained. He should
have considered; it a dereliction of his duty if he had
not called upon the House to pause before they agreed
to a measure- that was not suppOrted: by •a single
fact. He might ask the Right, Hon. gentleman to

state te'tneans by which he expeels. to supply the
casualties of- the Troops even in India, where the
I)::.ice,es,t3,loliihment. cannot hereafter be less than
twenty-five thousand men. He did not think it
true that one-seventh:of the Army would be to' be
discharged every year after seven yeait. The ordi-
,nary.casualties were 14,000, and lie supposed that
there would sbe besides 5 or 6000 intitled to their
discharge; which would make the casualties 20,000.
Disgust at a particular CoMmander, or a particular
4ervice, might induce all those that might be entitled-
to a discharge, to claim it. He could not think

that when'tnen were enlisted for seven years they
could feel-very N,vell satisfied on being sent,on Fo-
reign Service, if they were to be aware that Go-

.v.ernment could extend their term two or three
years. He was not actuated by hostility to His
Majesty's Ministers.. He was solely influenced by
a sense of duty. He wished them to delay this
measure, that they might try what could be done
by the ordinary recruiting. The Additional Force

Bill -had been -L,Ot rid of on the ground that
it obstrutied the recruiting. No immediate ef-
fe& was expe&ed. The Army was formidable,.
fully sufficient to defend the Country against Inva-
sion, and he was not aware of any opportunity cf
einployi)iq any part of it abroad in offensive opera-
tion. Why not then wait to try what cats be done
by the ordinary recruiting ? If that should fail, :he
would next Session be disposed to treat the present
Plan v. ith more deference than at present. He had
now discharged hiS duty, which obliged him to enter
his protest against this measure, .and he should not
trespass further upon the patience of the House.
CoIoneICRAWFO.RD would begin With what had
fallen ,from "the last Speaker in the latter part of his
Speech. It was certain that the apprehension of in-
convenience to the Colonial Service was the greatest
difficulty to be got over with respe& to the measure,
now proposed. Though there had been of late not
more than 17,000 European Troops in India, the
just proportion:, by the best calculations,,ought: not
to be less than 21,000. The average loss on these
was 'one to seven in a year, so that an annual supply
of 3000 men would be required : at the end of seven
.years about:one-fourth of. what was sent. out would
remain to be sent home ; and surely if it was intended
that any or the men sent out should ever return,
that proportion .was not too much to be sent back at
the bud' of that tithe. -If the individuals were sent
back on the expiration of their terms,-the chahge of
regiments would not be necessary. There would
never be above 1000 men to he brought hoMe at a
time. Some regiments at present had been thirty
.years in India. The present plan would afford a
more speedy return will) less trouble. With respeti
'to the West Indies, the fatality of the climate could
not be correaed by any plan : but a greater-certainty
of returning would be afforded by that now proposed.
The exertions requisite in extreme emergencies in our
foreign possessions hadheen exaggerated. The Army
in India should always be kept up to its full com-
plement, as it was too remote to receive speedysttt-
cours. In the West Indies 'it would be necessary, to
have an extraordinary force in extraordinary emer-
- geneies, on the sailing of a fleet from Brest, for in-,
stance; but that extraordinary force was not al-
ways to be kept: up, and therefore the inconvenience
to Colonial Service was over-rated. It was besides
to be remembered, that the evil complained of would
not arise till seven years would have' elapsed, and
before that time etfeelual securities may be esta-
blished,. against it. He was .one of those who
held, that for the honour and glory, and even
-the security of this country, the present military
establishment, in its present form, was insufficient.
The measures.adopted by the late Minister,
,for the
increase of our disposable force, .shelved that he'en-
tertained the same opinion. From July-1804, when
the late Minister came in, to Ist of March 1806, an

increase of 21,000 -men, including 1000 boys, had
been made on the gross force that is, from 230,500