The Sun.
London, England, 1802-12-09 00:00:00

THE

such a decision the jtistification of Government could
alone rest, it would, remain to be- determined,
whether the plan and system of that Force was
such as was consistent with public economy, and
with the nature of the services which that Force
was intended to perform. That. under the present
circumstances in which this Cohntry and Europe
was placed, a larger .MilitaTy Establishment than
Was usual heretofore, was necessary for the protec-
tion of 'our Empire, he ,supposed it would not,be
necessary for him to undertake to prove. It was a
proposition so obvious, that it could not be neces,
sary for -him to waste the time of-the Committee in
discussing it. The situation of Europe, and the
relative situation of this Country with regard to
its neighbours, were too obviously interesting, had..
been too generally explained, and , was too generally
acknowledged, to slemand. any further description
from,him. The overgrown power of France, which
had now realized all the dreams of Louis the XIV.
and his Ministers. the sneering.
held .with respect to other Powers, and the ambiticus
and entcrprizing spirit of its present Government,
spoke too strongly, and came home too direaly to
the feelings of every rational man, to render any
observations from him necessary upon such a sub- •
jea; and to say the truth, he should think it would
be a vain task indeed in him, to attempt to awaken--
the attention and feelings of any man by words,.
where attention, and where feelings were nor roitzed,
by the events which were daily passing -before -his
eyes. He conceived, that thesentiment of the Nation
upon this important subject was clearly manifested ; ,
it is,. thao we should preserve the Peace. we had
entered into as long ,as it could he maintained con-
sistently with the honour of the Country, faithfully
and
,pundually to pe'rform all the Stipulations of
that 'Treaty of Peace, not by our .conduct to
,pro.
yoke hostility, and to abstain from all .irritating
language, but at the same time to be ready and
prepared to resent every National ipsulte and every
hostile aggression. This ' appeared to him- to. be
the wise and'manly line of policy which we ought
to adopt, and which ought to be pursued with that
coolness, steadiness, and temper, which was the
strong charaderistic of a valiant Nation. It was.
necessary for this purpose, that we should. abstain
from invedives and irritating language—that
we should not enter into 'a war of .words, which
were neither calculated to defend the weak, nor to
oversct the strong, and which could Only excite
hatred and jealousy, and engender mutual hostility,.
which temper and steadiness might prevent. But
at the same time, he thought, it essentially necessary
that we ought to be in a state of preparation, and.
that we ought to take careto'be• strong by land as'
well as by sea—for after all that had passed,
there was n 6 man, he believed, who would, venture,
os el, ...s;eas. fsus et s
whatever.
,state of perfeition it might be, would
be alone capable of proteding at once every
.part of
our great extent of Coast, and all our numerous and
distant possessions. It was not necessary to argue
the subject at -length ; he would however allude only
to one
.circumstance, which was, that France was
now in possession of the Netherlands, and was. all.
powerful in Holland, that she was mistress of the
courses of the Lower Rhine, of the Maese and of
the Scheldt, and also .of almost all the Fortresses
that were scattered on their, Banks. And it should
be- recolleCted that this was the first time that .the
Parliament of this Country had vier been called
upon to settle a Peace Establishment under such cir-
cumstance's. He was,
he confessed, therefore greatly' .
amazed at what fell from an Hon. Gentleman' oppo.
site to him (Mr. Fox), fur whose talents he had the
greatest resped. That Hon. Geotleanan had stated
in a former Debate, that he S;i:V nothing in the pre-
sent state of affairs, nothing-in-the 'present state of
Europe and of this Country whiCh' could all fora
latger Peace Establishment than that which was
voted at the conclusion of the last Pea Ce. lie beg-
ged leave to re-call to the recollection of the Com.
mittee, that during the last Peace, Holland was •
not only not in the power-of France, but that she.
was, at least during a great Part of that Peace,
strongly connected with this Country. —, The
Netherlands then remained in the possession. of
the House of • Austria, and the whole course of
the Rhine was
.lined with friendly -and German
Powers. Surely such a change in the situation.of
Europe, must necessarily jusrify-some change in our
system. There was another circumstance to which
he wished to•advert, and which he thought was en-
, titled to great consideration,, and that was, the
Military Force which France would keep on foot st§.
her Peace Establishment He'begged.not to be tin.
derstood, as wishing to contend, that we ought to
keep up a Military Force equal to France; but he,
thought it was a subjea worthy of consideration.
At the commencement of the present year, the Mi-
litary Force of France consisted of 84 Regiments•of
Cavalry, which amounted to 46,3 io Men—of ito
Demi-brigades of Infantry, and 130 Demi-brigades
of Light Infantry, making together 341,000 Men,
exclusive of 14,000 Veterans employed for Garrison
Service. Their Artillery of every description, con-
sisted of about 26,000. All these different descrip-
. tions of Forces, would make together a Military
• Establishment 01427,900 men; and in stating it at
. this number, he was sure he sUas, considerably be-
low the mark. In addition to-this, there was the
National Gendarmerie, consisting of about soo,ooo
men, Making altogether about 930,000 men. He
did not mean to represent the Gendarmerie as corn-
ing within the description of Regular Troops; but
when he was speaking of the Military power of
France, they ought not :10, beleft out orconsidera-
tion. Such was the present state of Military pre-
paration in France ; and such being her position, no
rational man could doubt Upon the propriety of .our
having a larger Military Establishment for our se..