The Sun.
London, England, 1806-01-25 00:00:00

FRENCH ARM ES.

Among the various causes 'that may have contri -
buted to render unsuccessful the effbrts of the Powers
nt different, times coalesced against the French Re-
volutionists, there. is one; and perhaps the most mo-
mentous, to which there seems to have been little or
ho attention paid. ' That this cause and its full force
may be. rightly comprehended, we must lay before
our Readers. some past events, of-which they may
,be either ignorant, .or-not have a due recolledion.o
So early as the month Of,June, 1789, a resolution
was formed- by the French Revolutionary Leaders 'of
'arming thepeople. It consists with my knowledge
that, abont the middle of that month, the influencing
Members of. the Corps Eketora4 of Paris had laid a
plan of embodying 36,000 men; under the name of
National Guard's of that City. The same measure
was to extend proportionably to the rest of theKing-
dOm. -As the Parisian Eleabral Body kept up a'
do-se cOrreSpOndenee with the other EleCtoral Bodies'
tliroug‘.lout France, it. was easy fOr 'them to a6l
in concert ; and the impulse, whateyer it was, receiv-
ed -froin he Capital, Soon became general. AccordL.
in& the Citizen's of Paris having taken up arms on
tie 12. th, -13 the and 14th of July, 1730, thqy Wtre
imitated by the inhabitants of `the different towns;
boroughs, and viihages, who', like the Parisians, form-
ed themselves into Bodies of National Guards of the'
tnwns, borough, and .villages to Which they be.;;
longed. The newspapers and periodical pobliea—
liens ofthat day made this sudden levy ante-ant to
from 3to 4 millions. lie neinbe'r- was nip docht
exag-,er4tkfd.-, and .froin different motives, by, the
riters zu,botli Side's- Of the que:;tibfis then agitated
in France. Rut it is a certain. tad that such force
had been put in Inetion: since: the time when -the..
'barbarous Nations-, frdm different quarters:6f
the Cfohei invaded the Roman Empire. This grand
111:16111-e“.:NCCUttl' Nt it'll so much facility, because
. .
embraced lnz the:great body of the_-people. with am
enthusiasm almost incredible,-made some persons of
good-understanding even' then seriously, apprehend:
that the e,tablishrocni 'of a new form of Govern-
-,
went in France was not the only.view of the Leaders,
or if ictvas, that- a system of a,Y4rindisement and
connee;ti woultJ arise of itself by the course of
events,• and /burst forth on every • favourable oppor-
tunit,y. There was about this time and for some
year 'ter, an &arm sounded through Europe,. of
danger to G-c' wernments from— Freach Principles.
.The reel danger was- from French Armies, and this
immense armament was well calculated to put the
surrounding Nation's on their guard, and was ho
less so to prepare the French people for the most
extraordinary exertions in the way .of Military.
Levies. _ .

In 1792,1703,17940 3.:c. the whole male popnla-
fon of France, from 18 to 50 years of age, was ranged
in different classes, according to the age of.the indivi-
duals, under the names of 151, 2d, ad,. &C; Requisi-
tiw, and obliged to serve as_soldiers when required.
That same population is now ranged under the name
of Conscripts, of the Ist, 2d, 3d class, &c. and has boen
completely .tnethodiied by. Booaparte, miler the
three following descriptions of-Conscripts: tst, those
actually collet:jug those under drill ; 3:11v,
those who are fu-dy disciplined. The. number of
those, ditTerent orders'of Conscripts is not otherwise
limited than by the Will of the Government, and
theextent of the male population from 18 to 50.
From this nursery of men, however differently de-
nominated, National Guards, Requisitionaries; Con-
scrips, have the Armies of France, in all its `Vary
SiilC2 1792, been supplied with a constant succession
of Recruits, and as to the numbers indefinite.
Though the Rulers of that unfortunate Country,
.whether. Members of Committees, or Direftories,
:whether Consuls or Emperors, neither had, nor
.could have, notwithstanding their hypocritical pro-
fessions to the contrary, any feal concern for„it:s
iuhabitants further than as they were the means of
0 eitifeiee- their lust of power at home oe abroad, and
have sacrificed them by thousands and tens of thou
, •
sands whenever that sacrifice was. necessary to poi-
-chase dotninion; or ensure its possession; , yet so
admirably well fitted was the plan to the purposes
Jeer which it was Conceived, that the Armies under
all their different Commanders, from Dumourier to
Bonapaite,• notwithstanding their losses front vic-.
tory or detect, sickness or deSertion, have always
been nearly•kept up to their complement. In proof
of whatl say I will adduce two filets. First, after
the-Battle • of Getnappe the-official letter front did
French General to the Convention stated the loss of
his Army to be about 300.. Genoral Morris, on. his
way from the Continent to Bfitain, found Du-
mourier at Ostend, and waited !on him for a pass-
port. The passport being granted,. Morris thought
proper to compliment Dumourier upon his success,
but. insinuated some degree of doubt as to the num-
ber of killed on his side being only 300. '` Oh," re—
plied Dumourier, ‘‘.l will expl,Tlin that to you.—Jest
oiled- the Battle there arrived a reinforcement of Na-
tional Guards, which brought Jny Army to be within
about 300 of what it was before. the engagement"—
. Whether Dumourier recollect the circumstance,
I ,know not, but well I know that General Morris
told es now related, to persons stiff alive in Lon-
don.. I'Lrel;:ips in the same w 1- May we account for
the lc,-;-:;.s tir2. French Armies, in the most bloody
batt!e,e •knliticrr.ily represented by their Com-
made•r.i s.) very insix:lificant. .%ry- second
tliaa• the first. The French
Army ()brit:a et t the Austrians tinder
the,cli),;(.l of that year, for six
at 11,3 iat,, of a thousand men a
without al!oest tilt; •Lppaecnt diminution, of its
nombers, because, the occasioned by this
d.,ily slaughter were lesianth' mode tin by fresh ar-
rivals of Requisitio::;l7 A Nation thus
prepared for itwesan.:. all seasons, and,
in all- cases, must, • at. the long-run,' overpower
all those whose military esrabl.shments are fixed
lb a limited number of 0) mai y. thousands.
number, though in 4:self considerable; must neces-
sarily be muchi reduced, perhaps nearly exhausted,
by nudocisive 110,:ion,- by defeatS, and-even by Vic-
tories; nor will the common mode of recruiting re-
pair the losses sustained, ,so as to any way counter=
balance the advantage of •a never failing treasure of
men; ready to enter--the ranks-when wanted, and in
suchnumbers as they may be wanted.
.whOle of the last War kends .to. confirm .the

LONDON : e'rinfect by 1 CHAldi {tAKK of So, 4, tkiiiit)tt.court, : n::Lst; et.
At the SoN.OvilicE, No. 112, Strata! wlw.te /Liver lis )712.Pi1S 0141'1S fi

general importance, in which it was_ essential to
draw the proper line, took the question to more ma
tore consideration. They agreed, that if the matter
had rested on the original contraa of warninty, there
could be little doubt that the objection as to the form
of the action was well-founded; but iyhen the
words " to re-pay- the _purchase-money in a certain
event, were considered; they seemed to amount ra-
ther. to I.l'e idea of a depoSit in the Deft:Li-Oaf's
hands, which might".or might not be,recoverable on
an adtion for money had and received.
. .

SMALIWOOD V. THOMAS.

This was aii action also tried
.before Lord ELLEN-
BbROUGH, at the Sittings'af ter last-Term, at Guild-.
hall..

It resolved into this,.mbether a Vessel of 260 tons
coming from Honduras. to England was liroperly
manned, having six men"and two boys on board.—
The-Vessel. had eight Men and .four boys in.the voy-
age from England, but the rest of the crew, except,
ing those who made the voyage home, had been hn-
pressed: The Calßijn swore the crew was saficient
for the safe navigation of-the Vessel, which got safe
through the most dangerous part of tie voyage; and
another Captain declared, he would have felt no dif-•
ficulty in making the voyage in a vessel so maimed.
On the other hand, four Captains accitstarned to the
voyage; declared,- that eight mein Were not equal to.
the navigation of such ,a vessel, during such -a
'voyage.
Mr. Soticuron-Grtnß-A.l, arid Mr. ERSkIINTE Con-
tended that these depositions of the Captain of the
Vessel, and of-another Captain who had made six
voyages -of a similar kind ere conclusive on the
subject. It Was not necessaty.fbrOwnersOf a Ves-
sel to show, in a question.whether the Ship was-pro-
perly manned, that 'she was Manned
.tip to the:full
extent of men- 'she might carry; more.than:it was •
necessary in a..question of `..sea worthiness, to :shew
that the Ship was in a thorough state of repair.
Mr. 6Alittowi.in,l Mr. TOP-PI-NG, for the Defend-
'ant, maintained that t 1 question for the considera-
tion-of 'the Ccitirf here. was;. whether the verdia in
question bad fiot• been pronounced in opposition to
the great preponderance of the evidence adduced.—
111 opposition to the two witnesse3 who had sworn
that the- coniplement of 'men was sufficient, four
C:iptains, soue4 of,i,v,hotu had been t 6 and 20 years
In the service, liad.declared it was not so.

The Cburt opinion that the res%idelicd'
having been fully before—a Jury, competent in
every sense of the expression to judge .of- its import,
and capable, from their. .sitution in life, even better.
than Others, ofes'tiniiiiiiig file credit to bepaidTtoit.,,
there was no ground to disturb the verdi&.

v J

COURT OF COMMON ['LEAS, 1,,N.

L'cloCk 'Mr. Justice Gr,os% sat at Nisi
Pricis'Th,ere. 'welt—tut five canes in the paper,
.three of-which were undefended ; of the other.o.vo
the followin, was Wortirirr-of notice :

SE.:BOTJILN'k;

-The Plaintiff his, cause was a -ship-build9r, and:
brought his atlion against the Defendant,-who.was
Captain- of. a Russian Merchant-ves:iel, to r.ecover.
the surn of 711, alledged to be ate' ibr re).airs of
•
hi.s,Ship.. •
witnesses were called, on..the.part of the.
Plaintiff,. who deposed, that .the charges were rea-:
sonable, and such as were usually- made Wha rcndv
money was to be paid.
On the }fart of the I'Vfendant,, Serjeant BUT
stated, that-he would call the most respectable men.
Of the trade to prove, that .the usual credit was
twelve months, and that the charges in the Plain-
tiff's bill were such as were Made for that•credit.—
Notwitlistatfilino- this,' the Defendant, who was . a
stranger in England, Ntasa'rrested, and' thrown. into
gaol, three days after the work was finished..
Witnesses were then called, who proved the cus-
tom cf the trade, and that some of the charges
werothose which were usually made,'accericliiig to
that custom, when the. twelve Months' credit was to
be allowed. None of them, however, were able to
speak to- an-item in the bill tbr,.401. for neW masts ;
so that the. Jury,•under'thedireciion of the:Learned
.Judge, found a verdict. fOr the..PlaintiffDamages
:701. dedu&ing a discount of 5 per cent._--fom a part
of the bill.

PUBLIC-OFFICE, MARLBOBOUGH-STREET.r•-•YeE-
terciay the keeper of a Clothes Shop, in 'the neigh-
bourhood: of Carnaby-market,• was charged with
having received a quantity of bed-furniture, lour
:plated candlesticks, and divers other articles, know-
ing them to have been stolen. A single horse-
chaise. was seen to stop at thedoor.of the Prisoner,
by a person passing, Which raised his suspicions, end
he apprized the watchman. Two, men were seen
to take twolarge bundles from the.chaise, and carry
them to the Prisoner's door, which Was opened with-
,out knocking at,
,and they were admitted. The
watchman followed,. and seized the goods,.,but
.the
two men escaped. From. circumstances Which came
out, it i probable the property was stolen on Satnr-'
day ni'f-ht-last.--The hearing WY; deferred till addi-
tional:light ;hould be thrriwn on the affair. . •

Pittmrc--OFTicu .I.IA-r-RoN-GARvEri.,%.----By virtue of
a search-Warrant, the 0t -ricers and High Constable,
on Thursby nizlit, went to the sign of the Cock, in
1.).y(4-4reet, Sr. Giles's, behind which Was a Cock.=
pit,, in,whicii were upwards of sWy persons, whom
they to(,k into. custody, and lodged in the Watch-
house. They were yesterday bronght before tile
Magistrates, to give an account of themselves, and
they apoc:lred, mostly, to be gcntlethen's servants,
cf)achmen, apprentices, &c. They were sePa-
rately examined, and promising_not to offend again,
they were dismissed. The landlord .of the public-
house eKataed W. from each person,- to see this bar-
barous pastime.
MhssioN-HousE.— A Master Butcher, from
Newgate-mfrket, was _brought before Alderman
ComBE, Guildhall, by a warrant, charged by the
Parish Officers with deserting his wife, and. leaving
'her chargeable to them, while he kept another wo
man, who had' children by him. The .Defendant
did not deny the charge., but said•theyliad not lived
.together kw many years, and at first refused to sup-.
pott her ; but upon the A'derinaa telling him he,
must indemnify the Parish, he agreed to take her
lipme-and provide fOr her ; which the poor woman
was obnged to consent to, thotigh With great re 7:
lueLa

l'jbilS' b) WILLIAM ARM (GE P. Sca trrs,vot South Molt
)1- the Letters for thy &c. (,bOst paial),n

SHIP NEU'S,

GRAVESEND, JAN-23

- -
Passed by—the !lean of Oak, Virgio, I.;;ga PackcT,
termun, and Peace, Fisher, Ironl Lisbon.
Salted—the Cove, IVyatt, far I=tbago and !uff.row Anna
Clara, jails, for Einbden.