The Sun.
London, England, 1804-03-29 00:00:00

HIS MAIESTY's MESSAGE.

Mr. Secretary YORKE moved the Order of the 1
Day, for taking His Majesty's• Message into con.
sideration.
Sir FRANCIS BURDETT said, he did not
mean to oppose the Motion ; but this was a subject
of very great importance at any time, .and more 'SO
at the present ; it was a subject that was likely to
involve, principles that must naturally excite the
jealousy
,of those who were attached to tie Consti-
tution. He would not take, up more of the time of
the House at present, as he did not know what
measures Ministers meant to found upon this Mes-
sage ; but he could not help expressing the jealousy
he felt 111).6n the subject, • . •
Mr FULLER said, that, if Gentlemen, had any
objections to state to this Measure, they ought to
state them at 02C4-; but. if they did not..kuo,v). what
the measures to be proposed were, it woulkbe.as
well to wait till they did, before ,tliey,4presii;l'.
their objettlions. .
The Order of the Day was then, aread;:al-41
SrEAltsit having read His Majesty's Message,
Mr. YORKE addressed the. House to the follow,
ing effeti ; "Sir, in calling the attention of theHouset
to the Message of. His Majesty ,which has been, just'
read, I cooed-ye tharThere can exist very little doubt;
of the general concurrence of the House in carrying;
to the toot of-the Throne their. Unatlitiloll‘3 expres.;
sions of joy and satisfaCtion at.the communication'
'which has been made, and of this. additional proof:
of the zeal and' loyalty of the Irish Militia. I'
should conceive, ,Sir, that there can hardly be any,
person in the House who can find .any difficulty..in
expressing his concurrence. and warm approbation'
at this generous and spontaneous rerun on the part
of the Militia of Ireland, for an equally generous
and spontaneous effort which was made on a former
occasion by the Militia of England, who offered
their services to'go to Ireland, at a time when that
Country was in a state of considerable danger. But
as His Majesty's Message applies only to a part
of the measures that are under the cousideration of
Government for augmenting the disposable part cf
our Military Force, I hope I shall be, excused if I
advert shortly to other-subjeds which form a part
of that general plan. Before I proceed to state those.
points, I think it may be material to recall the
recolledion of the House to the present state of our
Military Force, because, although it had been stated
on former occasions in .a general way, yet it had
never been stated in that distinct and detailed manner
which was necessary to make a proper impression
. upon the House. After-having stated the present
state of our Military Force, I shall take a short con-
-I,`parative view of our Military Force at two former

periods, viz. in Oduber t Sot, when, the
liminaries of the Peace were signed, and in April •
1803, itnmediattly after His Majesty's Mes-
sage. The total of the Regular- Force on the
first of this month, including Cavalry,' Infantry,
and Militia amounted to 252,84.1 men ; this bndY
consisted in round numbers of 20,324.
regular
valty, 133,260 regular Infantry, and 99,257
The number of the Artillery at the same
period amounted 14,z0z Men, making altogether
the
sadual state of our Force, on the ist of this
month, 267,04.3 Men. Now, with respect to the
comparative view which I proposed to take of our
Force at two former periods ; on the Ist of Odo-
ber ißct,
.the effedive strength of the Army
amounted to z 66,800 • Men ; the Artillery 10
12,287, making together aboVe 279,000 Men''
consequently taking the whole of our Force Loge. ,
there and comparing them at those two Peri°J,s'
viz. Odober 18c).1, and March 1804, it will L'/
found that our Force, now that we have only beer`
engaged about to Months in War, is within 13,000 •
or 4,000 Men of the amount of the Army, at
the close of a War which lasted nine years. The
number of Cavalry in Odoher iSoi was 26,350'
but it' should be recolleded that the Cavalry is a
F,orce
.that cannot be raised- so quickly as- j°:
lantry, and that the number...of our Cavalry. Vii,g-
thought at that time by many Gentlemen wc;ure
greater than was necessary.' I have now, ""
stated very shortly, but very accurately, the colv
parative•strength of our Military Force at the twci
periods to which I have alluded, and having Plea
so, I will leave it ,to the fair and unprejthlict
determination of any man, whether there are aOl,
~,
grounds for those charges which some Gentleine';
are so constantly in the habit of throwing out, ,s
the want of exertion on the part of His Mdjes*rs
Ministers, and of the neglect of the MiliAta,'
Force of the' Country. Now; Sir, with reerin',':,
our Force in April 1803, immediately piev-lotls 'c
the .rup`ture. with- France, it amounted at that ti°
. in Great Britain and Ireland to 14,84_3 Men. l'"1“)°,:lt
Sir, I shill state the distribution of our Force,
the two 'periods to which I have alluded.
total of Force in Great Britain and Ireland. in
11301, including Militia, was 170,426 I\',ll,ent:
iin991973i1 2vII!°11,31 3'
near and
inn3(lo,o 0 .0
IVMI reenb-1TI) r';:l lc;
Green-13iitain are a Ir'elAnti than there was at 1.1
close -of the' last gar, and near 63,000 Men more
than therec,.w.its in April last, immediately before.•
the
coininenctn:ient.• of the War. ..ut there is another
view in which I wish the House to consider this
, subjed, that is 'to' say, the. difference: of the" num-
hers of the Regular Troops 'at the differetit Pe-
riods—by Reguhr Troops I do ••not••mean 011 if
Troops disposeable for Foreign Service. The most
her of Regular ".Proops in Ireland in ()Sober .18°1
was 12,2'20 Menee at present there are in Ife4a."`
-28,87 a tßegutai fortned'3o' hat";
litrrtreiatal:- sr.e-trattenVe-viei disci liptql•-• zocps
this COlintreirjepo'ise.4sc.d.- it iniglinbe.iaid that
the :danger in the; forsneliVar was not so great 81-99
thaty.witrin which we- were now 'threatened,
w il.l --,verettrte say -that there were many pet,',/.;'•-
cif'theldst.Wai; anAl,imitieularly at the time ‘i':fee
Northern Confederacy, when the danger Was grei..,ll‘r
(I will, not say•th:aneit•is'noW,A)ecause we are "-Itts,s
prepared, but virliS greeilr) than it was some ro°l'
ago. ,-Without otcctrying• the House longer LW
as
this ..subjed, r,fenture to say, that .as
the defence of tlitseCuuntry is concerned,
lady if. theThurnber of Volunteers is•consicle•6“;
requires no•extraordinaty_degree of entiraiin°,l;lll:
feel .;much alarm{at,any7-threatened• attack,9'
els
Enemy, That no .dtgree. :of exertion has 1)e
Wanting on.the part of the Execiitis,e.Governtlient;
is I think. clearly 'proved, if the nitinber•of the I.,'r
considered! that have been raised during the reseal,
War. •The total number's of Men raised f°'
Aro.l),
Public, Service, for the *Regulars, Militia, eat
of Reserve, and Seamen, since the commence.lo,to
of
:the Wai, is
.192,606 men ; rand' it oug!iit, at a
be,ereColleded, Iliac
_this. Force was' raise “„nu,
titne-when 'provisions were cheap, when 'lle :tiocre
fadures were floutishing,and coilsequeotlywilei.,,r in, ,
were not such strung inducements w men to ices
to the Army or Navy. When all these droll-11
are taken into consideration, let any iei;te
whether Ministers have or have not tna,le "")dal,
ertions. I take no credit to myself and toy. viog
leagues for these 'exertions, because • in to
them, we have only done our duty. But I as,
have thin point considered as established, khi!.
far as relates to our defensive Force, there •
reason to repine „st what has been done. -
point being established with regard to our have
'siveForceethe next question is, whether
.Wel aro
a .suflieient offensiv.e.:an;i,".disposeable Force. tiefo
of opinion that we ought not to confine ourasht t'
'to Yriet deiStire's of defence, I. that -we O°P ie of
forwasri to .svhat. may lt-apped in the woven,
the wirs-;'S'tirliose'inionie.ltapliy day' the Co'n. fro
'ofl,:tir()pe' should 4.ndeatiiittr • to resctieeitseltioed)
dolt 'fd.ke,i, fiteraii. bond e in:which jr ants
.and .which.fas-.l4velled..Kings-a`nd, nor doe
•4.6oitosii-•; it. mukrbe admitted :that it would
S'ir6ablV"thrit"this•'CoMitry shbuld- avail 0
itse.l;siep
l-erecbes.attmerpoftunity if it oceurred:•' but man
. I
itself (11,
should
.:not,.' this. Coutitry:e my to
have an opportunity 'of reducing the Enc. ore
ereasein, t convincing- him ..!that re.„ are
po..reetful-rban he'supposes-tts' to- be, and tha.t ".oinst
mote •thati:*able co.nt end si';tgle-hilocledo't ad'
• obint:::-.-UPtin these or unds I think it wow."
A so
vise:able to augment our dis oilcable Force, 0 . 1.09
an auginentatton had been determined rupon but
•Mijesty's Government ; it hadrnot yet been
.ch an
p?"
to' execution, but it was ready to be done CO6ti:olere.
extent, as might be deemed proper. The %Sea to
ration which had been already ordered, el‘te.ecrease
thC Cavalry and to the Foot Guards ;
35,0, and ti.'et „.
in the Cavalry was about
Guards above zOOO.- addition to this, I " rine)
Of, 100 a 4.1
posed to raise' eight new Regiments is° eac
'each, and ton new Battalions of woo men gegi-
old
to be added'to ten of the strongest of the . one
be C° tO
net-
'menu c—and this augmentation was to
Lc wade ,
ed with an riugmentation which was to u„ pastetuir
the Foreign Troops in our service. It a cry`
v r
well known that there was in the last \ , •an
• vice., .er
large body of Foreign Troops in our seri ,reatir
the wifoot.
it must be equally obvious that there,.
tr:ret'e notr.,
difficulties in recruiting The °
than there was in the last War,
that that or co,rcii,,,

•
Troops now in out Aer'flee
.1)-**.:-AIsv.cittM 14_1te at O*3P
then; and in addition_ to _this was to be c-;nsi"
tiered the levies-now .making- in. ttnr eAmeaica n
and West,lndian possessions,., which I should esti-
mate .at 4000 mots, :
,the,,l ) e. sao
•
the propriety ,of thista,. n our Irlitio to o , Reguiar Force,
then: the
_next question. to be censidered is, first,
by what dared r4-..,:liutri.you can effect and encourage
that .augmentations; aad. secondly, what
thatcollat obt.eeral
means you can use in. the attainment of
With regard to the .first of these points, I hope. that
the House will not be dissatisfied with me if I do
•
-not propose. any radical change in the
eonsaroetion
of the Army, if I do not now enter into the consi
-
deration of the question, whether it would or would
not be right to introduce the princip!e_ of limited
service into our Army. I by no means wish to
contend, that this is not a question very well de-
scrying of consideration; it is one which I haVe
Considered, and upon which I have formed my opi-
nion, and whenever the subjea is fairly taken up,
I have no ohjetion to state it, but I am sure it is
a •subjea which the House would not listen to,
• unless it had been previously considered by the
'Military part of the Administration, It is
a subjea that not only requires great considera-
tion, but, even if it should be adopted, requires
a great deal of time to carry into effect.
It has been adopted in the Austrian Service, that is
10 say, the principle was adopted immediately atter
the Treaty of Luneville, but it was determined that
it should not take effect till 1804. But lam sure
I need not state the material difference that subsists
between the Austrian Service and ours ; the
Troops
of Austria are all concentrated within her otvn Con-
tinental Dominion*, and are not spread, as :it e
Troops of Great Britain necessarily are, over
is-
With regard then to
tant Continental possessions.
the direct means that we ought to adopt for en..
Couraging and effeaing this augmentation, my opi-
nion is, after the best consideration I can give the
aubjeat, that the best way would be to remove all
competition with the Recruiting Service, and to
put a stop to all great bounties, which were not
'only a great grievance, by obstrualing the Re-
cruiting Service, but encouraged desertion. This
may be considered as a great admission on the part
of Ministers, and as an acknowledgment of the
.jastice of -the reasoning which some Gentlemen
have always made use of. But I cannot con.
hider (the. question in that point of view, I think
. the measures adopted by Ministers last year
were right but the question is, whether these
,ftleastres' lie necessary now ? -But if I am right
:in my opinion, that
_this Clampetition ,ought to be
•
atopped a* the next. question is,. whence does this
competition arise ? it arose from the Militia and
;frotnethe'Arthy adf Reserve: With regard to the
lailitiii, ' the .coMpetition. certainly was Arery great
last year, because the whole Militia was to be
-.Taiga ;Tiblit 'now. the Militia .was very nearly cam-
viett,lotr.thert. did not want to complete the Eng-
liSh Militia 5000 men, and the Irish was complete within' tio, The
,Else:.-Militia ,5000 men necessary..to complete
,for .
'
:Army i
.forming
°-"Y
Country
a competition with the
.coutai in n A ountry asfesuch extent as this, and
knowab g such .a nutpber of fighting Ten as we
Y the official returns it .• • 'I
a
W. 1
contains , s
-ttnuptit4iol) is' hardly '_woßtil noticing We then
ecorneetb 'the- .Army. of -.Re .
serve. - 'hough I still
maintain my opinion.ihatii A
le rmy ‘Of',Reserve
~,kills.were salutary antiuseful *
, yet now as they have
in agieat measise•hatrale 'tired which w.* •
_
as expel from them, it becomes necessary to consider whetlir
their operation should be-any-longer caniinueds The
Hill to which I allude passed on the 6th of l -
o tuy ast ,
- arealie 20th of August there were raised under that •
'kill t 5,905 men; on the .2
amounted to 4th of September
they
24.7 r 01; and in the month of N.)vein.
ter lasho 25,489 men, le will ask any man in
.._ Ihis-House to cell me by what other means a simi-
a time ?
Jar body of men could have been raised in so short The total number of men in Great Britain
and Ireland raised under the Army .of Reserve Bill
, . ,
waa..305841 men, of whom no less than 10,646 had
asnaered.for general service into the Regimetits of
-11ieti-ile. Otering the time se men were raising, I the admit that the'Recruitng- for the Army had not
Increased ; but 'on-the other hatid,-I contend it has
pot diminished,- tiotwithst d' ' . '
an :rig all this competi-
.
!ion, lam also read to admit, that for the last
two or three months, the Arm
y of Reserve has
... ,
scarcely maintained itself, that is to say, the num-
ber of Recruits have been fully balanced by the
number of Deserters, for I am sorry tO say, that
• • the praaice of desertion has got to a very great
pitch in the neighbourhood of the Metropolis, and
this has been very much increased by the very high
'bounties that have been given, and at the same
,time the• praftice of Crimping has increased.-
.In order to remedy the
these evils, I would propose as
Tep
- most e
effeflual means to attain that objea, not to
thcrri for moate Army of Reserve Bills, but to suspend
a limited ti
rue ; and with regard to those
`Counties Which
uot4 have not furnished their regular
• of saen, I would propose that they should pay
pecuniary
compenSation according to the number
of men,they wereakficient. This cannot be.con-
sidered as unjust, because those Counties are now
ratthicaittaaieity heavy fines, for not having com-
ated their number' a then. This is one of the
measures which rinean to propose, and I think the,
Army of Reserve Bills shoul
1d he post d" in Ire.
and as well poneas in Great Britain. If • the' House .
.:.
t attould7think proper to adopt this' prapoSition, it
Would- have the, immediate effea -of destroying all
e .
competition, and consequently of
reducing the great
*ties. It Would also, I think, put an end
.to the praaice of Crimin
Desertion.---W p g, and prevent
ith tegard • to the other means
-Which I _propose _to atiaspt, it is now• not ne-
c.essary to enter ••Into any detail upon the sub-
JeEt ; by the plan I have proposed, the whole
Recruiting Service will be thrown into the hands of
the Army, and in that case they
will have an op-
.
, portunity of regulating the Bounties. With regard to
Bounties, it is _they opinion of the-most experienced
Officers I have conversed with, that these, high
Bounties•are by no means necessary; it is sufficient
if they are liberal, but the-great point is that they
should be fixed and certain ; - it is now proposed that
.therattauld not exceed -tenuineas.
Is a aae!te m g This certainly
Pio
ilitary question, and it is upon the opi-
n of the most experienced:Military Men. that I
~,_,

ha ve :eon ve tied with that 4 ha ve,4*.nimt ritwoOkei
tI think Ilco, tho• some means should be takers -so
;recruit the Army of Reserve, out of those who-are
not fit tor foreign service,. or who do .not choose to
t engage for it. I have troubled the House solongi
that I: hope it will not be.-necessary to .occepy
much more of their time. With regard to the coio.
lateral means, the first is that which is recommend;
ed in .the King's Message, -for by-. bringing over.
to,ooo of the. Irish Militia to• this • Country .it will
enable us to set aoliberry to,boo' of our Tioops,
and to,render them disposeable for foreign service.
But in order to pre-vent any defalcation on the Irish
Establishinent, I mean: to propose that the Irish Mi-
. litia; which now-only consists of x B,ocso men, should
be carried to the point at which they were fast War,
that is to say 28,000 men. I should therefore pro-
pose, in rise first instance, to m)re for an Address
to His I\ .!slesty, in the terms to which I alluded in the
commencement of my Speech.: I should then move
for leave to bring in a Bill, to enable His Majesty
to accept this offer of Service from the Irish Militia ;
next, I should propose a Bill for augaienting the
Irish Militaa ; and lastly, I should propose to bring
in a Bill for suspending the Army of Reserve Bill
for one.year. I am not aware that there is any thing
else with which it is necessary to trouble the House,
except only upon one point, which I omitted to
mention before, but which ought by no means to be
lost sight of, I mean the *state of the Volunteer
Force. By the latest returns I have seen, after
criticalinspeftion, the number of men, effeaual and
present, was, of Cavalry 27,000, Artillery 4000,
and Infinity 300,0t50 ; these were not Men upon
Paper, but serfeditse and present. The Cavalry
were all, of course, completely armed, the Infantry
in all the Maritime counties were also armed, as
were the greater part of those in the Interior
Counties. I think I can venture to say, that cf the
Volunteer Infantry, 250,000 are completely armed,
and, from the great exertions that are making, I
am sure the remainder will in a very short time have
their muskets, and in case of any sudden emergency,
they might be armed with Pikes, great numbers of
which had been issued OUT. Whatever Gentlemen
may say of this Volunteer Force, I contend that a
large proportion of them are as well disciplined as
the Militia were at the Commencement Of the last
War; and it would be but candid, if Gentlemen,
when they spoke of the Volunteers, would recol.
left -that they were in a very different state from
that in which they were five or six months ago ;
but it has been the constant fashion to represent
them as if they were no farther advanced in disci-
pline than they were when they were first embodied.
In addition to this force, there was. .2e,000 Sea.Fen-
,cibles, who would, I have no doubt, prove them-
selves of the greatest service, if ever the Enemy
*should make: an attempt at invading this Country,
with. their, boasted Flotilla!'' He concluded with
moving, the Address, ,
The Address having been read from the Chair,
Mr. r trr, " I do not rise to trouble the Rouse
With 'any discussion At 'present ; the subjea is indeed
well deserving.the attention of the House ; but the
more .proper period for discussing it will be when
the different topics enlarged upon by t'oe Right Hon.
Gentleman to-night shall be brought forward in the
shape of Bills, when I shall take an opportunity, of
delivering my
.sentiments more at large. -To-fhii
Address I concur in common with the House, and
all those who ree-ollea with pleasure the cordiality
and zeal of the Militia of this Country, who'set to
those of Ireland an example which has excited their
emulation, and which they now, so much to their
hOnbur imitate ; this is a subjea on which there can
'be no' ifference of opinion, but in which we most
all feel equal delight—l do not think this an oc.
casion on which it is necessary to enter at all into
any discussion of the very interesting and important
lOpics with which the-Right Hon. Gentleman pre-
,faced his.MOtion for this address. I beg leave to
say,. that having expressed in the course of the dis-
cussion of the suhjesl now wider our c insider_
anion, myself dissatisfied in Many respeas as to the
state of the Military Defence, and not being able to
,relieve my mind upon the whole of that sublet}, I
must repeat that I retain the same sentiments still—
I will however freely own that I am in many re-
speas satisfied in what I heard to_night; I insist how-
ever declare also, that whenever I have ventured to
trouble the House upon this subjea, I never diffeted
from the Right Hon. Gentleman in one proposition
which his speech to night proved, namely, ,that its
far as numbers gn, there is no subjea of blame to
be attached any where ; it has never been contested
by me that the numbers raised in the course of the
present War are not abundantly sufficient to meet any
view which any reasonable person can entertain of
the necessity for cur defence. How far, in the
raising such numbers, merit is to be allowed to His
Majesty's Government—How much they have done
to procure the proper means to improve such num-
bers and render them efficient by discipline—How
much encouragement has been held out to some
descriptions of persons composing a part of those
numbers—How far Ministers have proceeded to give
to the Country the benefit it might have had in
proportion -to such numbers raised by aftive exer-
irons and .prudent policy, are questions which are
not peces,sarily to be mixed io this Debate. I
shall not introdUee any topics of that nature at pre-
sent ; whatever share Government may have had in
• producing these numbers of men for the general De-
fence of the Country, the ardour, the zeal, and the
energy of the Country, is manifested more than even
the numbers can convey, and this affords to us the
best pledge for our security in thehour of attack, anti
consciousness of invincible strength in
,the hour of
danger,a security indeed against any danger by which
this Country may be threatened, and an assurance
of triumph over any difficulty with which we may
have to contend. But there is another point which
cannot be cured by zeal, and that is, whether the
energy of the persons thus raised has beets well di.
retied ? Whether they have been brought forward
and improved in discipline so as to tender their
natural Force most serviceable and made most
available to the security of their Country ? That
is.a point involving matters which it may be ex-.
tremely interesting and highly important to discuss
hereafter at a convenient opportunity, but I will
not introduce these topics into discussion to
embarrass the subjea of the present day ; I
shall leave them to subsequent occasions, of which

dittrer win bet -mar+ • ,sihen -C3rile he.
fo'e us), but—while.. I say • I feel some satisfaCtion
;from aNbat beard to-night from the Right Hon.
iGtnilenjarte I mean, that my satisfy Lion arises
;chiefly from theatnount of our Fore called into ac-
Aivi:y for our Service, and the sal and energy
which the Country has manifested. for that purpse.
in no part of the Country du I apprehend any. defi-
ciency in zeal and energy ; and with the magnitude
of our Force, in a colledive sense, I am satisfied—.
on none of these points-have I any anxiety ; but on
the subject of rightly improving such Force by dis-
cipline, and rendering it more and more efficient
fdr its purpose, have I day after day expressed my
anxiety in this House, and this is the great point
on which I wish the Public may never have reason
to 4-egret that more had not been done early in this
case. Upon that matter I only throw out this as a
hint, for at present I shall say no more upon it ;
neither will I enter minutely into other matters at
this moment ; I would just observe in passing, that
with resped to the Militia, I am of opinion care
should be taken it be not made use of in a way that
May impede the progress of the Regular Army or
any other disciplined force; and unless I shall see
occasion to change my opinion, I shall have to state
more at large my sentiments upon this subjed here-
after, and to submit that under the present circum-
stances of the Country is w ill be desirab:e as vacancies
shall occur that they shall be filled up in a different
mode than has been hitherto adopted ; and if they
are raised by Ballot as formerly, yet that they shall
soon be put in a state in which when trained, they
may be at liberty to enlist as much as they chuse, as
men do from the Militia and alto from the Army of
Reserve into the Regular Service. I enter as
strongly as the Right Honourable Gentleman him-
self can do into the propriety of preventing as much
as posSible the competition of the services, that of
raising men for the Militia and the 'Army of Re-
serve interfering with the recruiting of the Regular
Army—l enter also into the spirit, and fed the
absolute necessity of a measure that may crush
that abominable prattice of crimping—l wish very
much to aee some measure adopted, to relieve the
Country from.the great weight and pressure of those
high and enormous, bounties, which now have been
too long given for men in the Militia and the
Army of Reserve,. which has, in addition to this
evil, another of considerable magnitude attached to
it, that of temptation to desertion ; but doubt
very much whether you would not prevent a great
deal of progress in the service, if you did not only
allow persons from all services to enlist as they
chose into the Regular Service, but also supply the
vacancy in some manner like that which is now
done in the Army of Reserve, and ren-
dering that species of vehicle, by which to
convey men who are trained and disciplined into
the Regular Service..--I throw this out as a mere
hint for consideration,' before the progress of the
Army of Reserve is suspended. The Right Hon.
Gentleman has not entered into any detail of the
mode by which he means to raise the men ; if he
can raise as many new Regiments and Battalions as
may be
.wanted by aired recruiting at moderate
bounties, without having the circumstance of undue
grants in consequence of it, I should be glad ; if
there be reasonable hopes of such a plan, I should
wish it' tO.be fried, and should most heartily wish it
success. I do not say. how far it may or may not be
advantageous to the Country to adopt a total suspen-
sion of the Army of Reserve fur a while, but I am
strongly of opinion, that with a view to the success-
ftil augmentation of the Army, and the keeping
it up effeetually in time of War, it must' be done
by some measure that has, at least the effect of keep-
ing down Bounties, and that can never be accosts:
plished until the present competition in the services
shall have'been abolished. I think, however, that
you cannot have the men with the saint prornptoe.ss,
nor under the same discipline, without a measure
somewhat partaking of the chara#er of your Artny
of Reserve, and that will operate in different parts
of the Counties more diredly.than any other. Some
regulationt with regard to Substitutes, and to con-
fine the Bounties within a moderate compass will, T
believe, be found more effeaual than any other mode.
I think, however, that to supply the Army in this
way, will be found a more effedual mode than that
of the ordinary progress of Recruiting for the army
in the first instance ; for. I have' been told by many
men of experience, and I have found by my own, that
men, as indeed it is natural we should expeCt without
experience, are snore ready to enter into that species
of service which is limited in extent and duration, '
which is the nature of the Army of Reserve, than'
into that of a general service, which has no limits
of time or place. This we all experienced in the
course of the last war, in the Militia. We have al.
ready found in this war that men have been ready
to enter into the. Army of Reserve, independent of
the bounty, on account of the service being limited
in point of time ; and we have found that when men
come together, and after they have acquired military
`habits, they take inclinations from each other, and
ate tempted by a natural spirit of courage and emu.
lation.amOng their comrade's to extend their set.
vices, and upon which they manifest a desire of
going in the Regular. Army, and therefore I'
believe that as a matter of permanent policy, as well
as that of a temporary purpose, or immediate effort,
you will find it prudent, instead of giving up the
system of the Army of Reserve, to retain some-
thing of its principle, and indeed I colleted from
the Speech we have just heard, it was not the in-
tention pf the Right Hon. Gentleman to give it up.
altogether, hut only to suspend the pro.visions of it
for a while. I should rather' think it better to shape
the plan of the Army of Reserve differently from
what it is at present, and to attach it afterwards, as
as much as you may, to the Regular Force, by
uniting it, by means of moderate bounties, to the,
different Battalions, as second Regiments, or Bat-
talions; for, by this mode, you will have all
the advantages .of local attachments, which men
have, and the willingness they have to go together
in almost
.every service; this. will in a coirsides-
able degree be always the case, where men are raised
by districts instead of being collected by a plan of
general and indiscriminate tecruitiog; and the de.
ficiency may be supplied by fresh Ballot. I do not
know whether I have not branched out 'further
than was necessary to express my perfed acocies-
mee in the present addreas,, rescrvipg, at~ do,

the peest 1-41 erytirc„.fre,elorn to ne,ak.:ol the
ferent measures when tiley' come before -tliz
but I have not stated these sentiments oroptni
in opposition to the Motion now before theJlo;,;,s;:'f•
' but I thought it necessary_ to thrOvi but thc'et
ideas, rest it should be supposed by my silence
had altered my opinion in some respects,'
quence of my seeming to acquiesce in all that-11:y.
been stated by the Right Hon. Gentleman. (.art (:;e
contrary, from what I have said now, I'trust it
pearS to the House, that nothing which I have t-ak:.
the liberty, on many former occasions, to rceotronc.
in our Military System, has been it, the least
grec •altered by any Proposition which I have he.,,,;
to-night."
_ _ _ _

Mr. WINDHAM. " As there will be a consi.
derable interval between the present neri ,d and :1;2.,
final discussion of the subjeti now before the I-louse:
I shall not be under the necessity of detaining t: c
House so long as I otherwise should pedlars feel !t
my duty to do ; hut it is necessary for me to ol ,
serve, that although the Right Hon. Gentlemsn'lno;
gone into the whole measure at once, oln a genets:
statement of the matter which he is hereafter to pro.
pose, which may therefore be hereafter discussed i
yet those who feel like myself, most he anxious not
to appear to assent to all he states, and therefore
I shall say a few words on the soli' 4 - of the
Message from His Majesty, and the Address
proposed by the Right Hon. Gentleman. There
cannot be the least hesitation to assent to ths
first, and indeed what may he called the formal part
of the Address to His Majesty, which returns
thanks to His Majesty for his gracious comma,
nieation ; as little ohjettion can there be made to the
acknowledgement of the zeal of the Militia of Ire-
land, or of the People of that Country in the coin:
mon cause; but it remains for me, and for those who
think with me, to say, we are not prepared to adopt
measures to carry into execution any partkular plaii
until we have had an, opportunity of considering what
that plan is. The first and leading objeaion I have
to accepting the present offer of the Irish Militia ii
an objedioo to the principle of the thing, that is,
because by it a body of men assembled for efficient.
military purposes ire to go beyond • the terms ol
their original set vice. I do not say that no semi;_
Lion of things can do away this objection, because
there may be a condition of things which will Oil)
away all ohjetlions of whatever kind; but I say,
that condition of things does not exist at this mu,
went : and an objenion it always will remain, let the
condition of things be what it may; and the only ques.
Lion is, whether such a condition exists as to overrule
that objeiaion ? I am of opinion, that in the pre,ent
case, that condition has no such force at the preseor
moment. I felt this ohjeaion strongly, at the time
the English Militia made their offer toga to Leland,
and however useful, and perhaps decisive that melt,.
sure was upon the occasion to which it wa's applied,
certainly. that measure was not carried into tiled
without producing the inconveniences which I have
alluded to, and that I took the lihetry of stating 4
that time, I am confirmed, instead of being shaken;
in the opinion I then entertained upon that subjsti,
for indeed the taking such a service as this, although
offered, is nothing more than that which, may, to
some degree, be called a departure from good faith
—it is not a breach of good faith, but it is ,a sort
of misprision of good faith, for although the lead-
ing part of such a service as this may be volun-
tary, and the offer spontaneous, yet, as to the
remainder, it .may be absolutely compulsory. If a
part of a large military hotly make the 'offer, how
is the remainder to refuse it ? You do not seem to
kno%-v the possible, nor seem very clearly to see the
probable consequences of such measures as these, for
there are many evils attending them ; one of these
evils, besides the point which partakes of the natufe,
of a hreach of faith, is this, it has a very danger-
ous eff.. ti upon military di-eipline, especially upon
such a force as that of a militia force; and to illus-
trate this I should like to ask Gentlemen. who wens,
to Ireland with our militia, what past as they were,
going there with their regiments; whether they did
not hear some things that were utterly subversive of
discipline? I would ask, whether t he acceptance of such
a service is not a species of suspension of discipliue ?
Putting yourself into a situation to ask a favour of
a military body of men, for a favour this is, cannot
be said to be free from danger. It may he said,
I that this is only renewing what I formerly said;
that may be truer and yet the observation may ri,4
have lost its force, because it happens to have beers
an old one, and the obje,ttion may he as geod now as
' if it had never been before made ; besides, I do not
see that Ireland is less in danger than Great Britain,.
When you say you let loose a part of your dispose_
able Force in this Country, that is to say, that yiat
have so far a power to employ as you please, the Re-
gular Force which you could not otherwise detach,
you must remember that precisely to the same amount,
you must Make fast your Force in Ireland. I have by
these measores pretty good testimony of the propriety
of the opinions I have formerly given on these points.
This asking favour where you ought only to corn-
mand; this begging of them, will have a bad effect ;
it will introduce ainong our military bodies a species
of Saturnalia which may be extremely dangerous ;
for which reasons, although 1 agree in the first part
of the Address, as I have stated already, yet I dis-
sent from the latter part of it. I would really say
no more for the present purpose, than that we should
take the matter into our consideration, for I think
we ought to reserve to ourselves the mode in whirls
- we shall.succeed, at least until' we have lad Some
. time to deliberate upon it, for we should not con-
sider the question as a mere transfer of Force
from the one Country to the other ; but this;
question involves a consideration of increas-
ing the Militia force of Ireland, a force which
is not raised as in this Country by baltot ; asei
this goes, like many other treasure, las which
, ,s. and some
.oil ft 'have .ueen constantly ohjening,
to the
.prejudice of increasing the Regular Army,
and in that view it is particularly objedionable to
in;. Many of the propositions of the Right Hon.
Gentleman to night I cannot oppose, without giving
up a great number. of opinions I, have delivered ors
various former occasions in this House, and in which
opinions J have been every, day more and wore con_
winced, as .the sobje4s have been presented to.my
mind ; such as chat of the. propriety of putting
an end to the competition of the services by which
,bounties have been Incicascd ; t he taking ;14 waucr

of recruiting entirely into the hands of Government,
instead of leaving individuals to vie with each other,
340 creating an expense so enormous and so hurt hen-
some. These and some other points stated to-night
by the Right Hon. Gentleman, are what I have
stated sevaal times, and a great while ago in this
House. These, it seems, are now to be adopted,
though then it seemed they were not mature, and
were therefore rejetrfecl. It seems as if reason to
His Mpjesty's Ministers Was like fruit, not it to
eat in less than twelve months, for it is now that
distance of time since they were offered ; hut at last
they have been thought fit for the table of the. Right
Hon. Gentleman, and so they have been to.night ac.
cordingly served up. Upon one point I would ask for
information, whether the new Regiments are to be.
raised by recurring to the old and ruinous s) stem of
recruiting for Rank, and if so, whether Ministers can
hope-for any power of Legislation in such a case
that will:prevent a competition which must he most
injurious in its eft-efts ?As to the point of the dura-
tion of the service in the Regular Army, I do not
blame the Right Hon. Gentleman for not alluding
to it scanner, for he had no.measure that had a bear-
ing upon it sooner : upon that subjea I retain the °pi_
nion I have often delivered in this House. In a
word, I agree with the Right Hon. Gentleman as to
the propriety of reducing the enormous Boun!ies we
have so lung heard of, and they cannot be reduced
without taking away the competition which has pro.
fluted them. I agree with the Right Hon. Gentleman
also in the propriety of Government taking the
whole of the Recruiting System into its own hantis.
I agree ton, that the first part of the Address ought
to he voted, namely, Thanks to HiS Majesty for
his gracious Communication, and an acknowledge.
tnent of the zeal of the people of Ireland ; but there
I think the Address ought to stop for the present ;
I am not, without much further consideration, pre-
pared to say yes to the remainder of .the Address,
which will tie down this House to every thing but
the-mere detail of a system, the principles of which
do not approve, and for the consideration of which
this House had not had time enough, and therefore
I shall move, by way of Amendment to this Address,
to leave out all the latter part of it, for the purpose
of inserting the words, " And that we shall take
the same into our most serious consideration."
The question being put,

Lord -C
ASTLEREAGIi entered at large upon all
the topics brought forward by the Right Honour-
able Gentleman who. had -just sat down, and de-
fended the whole of the present system opened by
his Right Honourable Friend to-night, and main-
tained, that although part of the present plan was
to adopt the opinins in part, delivered on filmier
occasions by the Right Honourable Gentleman,
which opinions were not adopted when they were
offered ; yet it did not follow 'that Ministers had
tided unwisely, for although now they proposed to
-suspend the operation of the Army of ReServe
Bill, and make some other regulations, which
until now had not been adopted, yet the measure
of the Army of Reserve, and other measures, were
perfeeily wise at .the time they were adopted ; and
Ministers would have been highly culpable if they
had not adopted such measures, for by no other =A-
im-es could they have raised the number of men that
had been raised. 'rile purpose of these measures
hiaving been answered, another policy became ad.
viseable under different circumstances. As to the
apptehension entertained:that .some of the Irish
might propose to (male to this Country,
other. mi.!ht f onwHiling, he could remove
all alarm. on that subjea, by assuring the House,
that to his knowledge every man in the Irish Mili-
tia was ready to join in the offer, which had been
made on this occasion. He approved, however,
of not increasing the number of Militia actual- •
ly to he in Ireland. • The vacancy occasioned
b) their c,,ming here to a given number was only
to be friled up, fir it was desirable that the Militia
should hear only a given prorirtion to the Regular
Force in Ireland, the Militia not exceeding zB,boo,
and the Regular Force in Ireland now being 35,000.
The Noble Lord then entered into an enumeration
of the different numbers raised by Recruiting for'
the Line since the operation of the Army of Re.
serve, comparing it with former periods, when
there was no such Bill to operate, to shem it had
not by any means had the tfred of diminishing the
Service, as hail been supposed. Having expatiated
on these and other topics, he concluded with oppos-
ing the Amendment, and giving his hearty assent

to the original Address.
Mr. BASTARD said, if the Amendment should
be withdrawn, he should, for the present, Only ex.
press a hope that there would not be any thing hasti-
ly done in this important business ; and he assured
the House that he should oppose, at all times, every
measure that rrnded to alter the fundAmenial princi-
ple of the Militia Laws.
&War LAWRE.NCEentered much at large upon
the subject now before the House, very warmly,
and ah:v supported the arguments of his Right
Hon. Friend (Mr. WINDHAM), to whom, he insisted,
Ministers were indebted for every thing that was
valuable in their Bill of the Army of Reserve.—
He accused Ministers of committing and re-commir-
ing, and altering again and again their measures,
so often, that at last they did not know their own

works, and afterward, taking to themselves the
merit of every thing that was found in every Le-
iislative Regulation, although almost every thing
valuable of that urt, since the commencement of
their Administratrin, was the suggeition of some
one or other who had had no connection with them,
generally one of their direct opponents. He was
decidedly in favour of the Amendment.

Col. I-7 UTCHINSON bore honourable testimony
to the loyalty of his countrymen. He assented to
ti,,_ Andros,, under an explicit -declaration that he
expeflee; interch,ini-e of offers of the service
of the E:glidi _Militia to go to irvh,d ; that he
never should aasent to the taking away from their

native country 10.000 of his c—ountrytnen, as fine
soldiers and.peas'ants as any in Europe, but for the
purpose of replacing them with an equal number of
strangers. He thought that an interchange of set_
;..ices of the Militia of this Country into Ireland
as well as those of Ireland corning into .this., was a
course which the natural spirit of the Union dic-
tated, and he thought the most beneficial effetts
would arise out of it, for that it would lead Gentle-
men Of this Country to see the state of the wants of

ircland, and in time pave the way to an Inquiry intu
t• .

•
the.state of that Country, which Minhters,hadtt
therto, in his opinion, to their disgrace, epposed.
Mr. BANKES did not wish the House to pledge
itself to adopt a system before it was aware what that
system was to be ; for which reason he wished the
House to inquire into this matter before it voted
any thing further than Thanks to the Throne.
—He deprecated any measure tending to weaken
the Force of Ireland, which was much more vul_
nerable than this Country. The measure alluded
to had given a blow to the-Militia Service, which
he doubted it would never recover. He thought the
proper si-here of the Militia Service was in its own
brine. He was adverse to the admission of a prin-
ciple which would authorise a similar offer.on the
part of the English Militia ; and in the present
circumstances of Ireland the force proposed to he
taken from it mast be replaced by some other. He
,s,&; for the stria observance of public faith upon
all occasions whatever. The events of x 798 were
highlo detrimental to the Militia Service in general,
and he coudo.ted by observing that, in his present
viw, and under hit present Intdrmatton, 4 the sub.
it•Ct, he houhi, if pthlied to a vote, give it against
the Measure entirely.
Mr. WiNeFIAM spoke shortly in explanation.
- The Cu.kecEeton of the hxcrtsQutk after noticing,
what he conceived as inconsistentie of the Right Hon. Gen.
tlematn.with respect to his opinions and conduel relative to
a question shinier to the present, passed on to the considera-
tion of the subject bet-ire the Hons..? : the condud of the
Irish Niiinia was worthy of the highest encomiums, but he
deprecated the idea held out, that these spirited and patriotic
oilers could not be accepted without a breach of faith. The
etteet of the Address was, that they would proceed to consider
of such provisions as may be necessary to enable the Crown for
a time to be limited to accept these others—it was material to
consider the best means of enabling the Crown to exercise a
dicretionary power on this oeceasion. On this he.contended,
it seas material, that' Parliatneut should come. to a speedy
determination. It was material that the Government of
reland should know in the interval of the ensuing recess,
that the Legislature was willing to accept of such laud-
able otters ; it was right the Government of that part of
the [tinted Kingdom should know the dispositions of Par-
liament upon that subject. With resped to the idea; that
Ireland was about to be stripped of to,ooo men by the mea-
sue, it was entirely unrounded. The present question merely
respeded the vesting a discretionary power in His Majesty to
accept, in such proportions or at such periods as they
should deem proper; a force to the amount stated; but this
by no means implied that such removal of Troops were nbt.
to he replaced. Gentlemen who talked so seemed to fverget
that there. was a middle description of Force in this Country
—that was neither Regular Troops nor Militia; he alluded
to the A tiny of Reserve, with which the Miloary Establish.
went of Ireland might lie repaid soy humber of Troops taken
therefrom. Such an arrangement might by that means be
made as would literate 5000 Troops of the disposeable Force
of either Country. It was not intended in the least to dimi-
nish the elficieot Foices of Ireland. One of the principal
objeCts in such an interchange would he to augment the force
of that description, which the Right lion. Gentleman uoi-
forinly prote,-.sed to think infinitely superior to any other. he
meant the disposeable, such as could be employed upon fo-
reign or oflimstve service, should such be deemed desirable.
ndepeedeot of this consideration, it was the most expediti-
oas way in which a Fofce to such an amount could be train-
ed .111(1 disciplined.. On such an occasion no time should be
lost ; they should let the Militia of I reland understand they
were willing to accept oilers which involved so many ad-
vantages, and that without delay; aneldepend upon it, they
should have no wore offers troll Irelaed if they voted the
Amendment of the Rieht Hoii. Gentleman ;and upon these
grounds he was decidedly hosille to that proceeding.
Mr. W I OH A u spoke hi farther explanation.
Sir I. NEw T express,l his exultation that the loyally
and affection of the great body of the People of Ireland stood
vindicated in thee estimation His Majesty's Ministers
Such was what he interred from the declarai.eot s. of one of
them, and in which sentiment he. trusted they all agreed
the loyal and patriotic offers'of the Militia, who he believed
to a man would cheerfully volunteer their services, was a
striking proof, to a very great extent, of the truth with which
he wished to impress the House. The charge of disatfectioa
against the great bulk of the Irish People was most grdund-
lessly made. He trusted they would all in the hour of
danger, whatever may be the clTerences in their reli-
gious tenets, stared thrth and defend the Crown- and Con-
stitution of the United Realm against all attacks what-
ever. There were certainly some few among the very
lowest orders of the People—the rabble of every Country,
who, bound by n., ties, or iiillececed by us just principle,
were prone to wish for changes in the Government, in the
hopes of being able to gratify their own unruly passions and
-.propensities, and so tar may be held as dh‘satteetce, and such
there were in I rennui in common with other Ceuotrie,s ; but
with resped to the great body of the people, lie repeated, His
Majesty had not more true, firm,• or loyal subjects iii all
the Empire than "those of I relent.
Mr. CALCR ATT. begged leave to offer a few observations
upon the suoject before the House. If 1)6 understood • the
nature of the case right!). there was no necessity whatever
for the hasty decision passed by His Majesty's Ministers.
lie was ioformed, by an Officer of great respettability,
that the Irish Government had -oilers of service front
some of the rvLlitia R,einients so long since as tour
months : it this were fret, the consideration of the subjed
surely Would admit a suspension of halt a dozen days, to
allow Parliament time to deliberate on. the prhuciple of so
great importance as that involved in tile Address. He de
tended his I lon.Friend, so he hoped he might call him, from
the charge of inconsistency no the opinions delivered by him.
The state of I reland at the rime alluded to should be consider-
ed—A rebellion raged in the heart of the Country, and sse
could spare no other force to resist or to stippresS it then; but
our Militia : he had some opportunities of knowing the state
of the popular mind iii Ireland, acid he was Lot quite so sell_
guine as to the extinction of disalledion therein, as some
Gentlemen seemed to be ; and much -still remained to be
done, before that spirit wae obliterated. There were other
objections which he cm:trete-led to a hasty decision upon
the suhiect. fle reeolleeted on a former occasion •the total
want of discipline that prevailed, wink:4;w seatiments of-the
Militia Corps were ascertaining upon the hoint of extension
of service ; and he trusted,. he shotlitt again have occa-
sion to go round canvassing his men'on oue.ti a-subject. •
The CilA lee I. neok of the ExeoLoesk and Mr. CA L-
CR4 FT spoke severally in explanation ; in the course of
which the latter wished the Minister, if he had any objection
to lay the Dates of the Offers of Seeviec before the House, to
state them ; to which tll‘ reply ssas, " None in the least:"
Sir 1. NEWPOkT and Lord C AST LEkSolGit also spoke in
explanation.
Mr. Gk. ENV ILLE made a few general observations upon
the subject and in support of the wpm-lents' advanced by his
Right Hon. Friend (Mr. WI evii Are). - He would put it to
-Ministers,' whether, if similar oilers were made on the part
of the Militia of England, they were prepared to sav, they
would not propose measwes, for carrying such into ell'ect? Re
expatiated on the importance of the subject, which, it would
appear, hi the way it seemed to be treated, they were brought
to discuss by stealth.

.Mr. A RC!' DA L E expressed his hope, that neither Ministers
nor the House would allow a question o; such importance as
the present to be treated of by stealth. On the contrary, he
hoped it would fully and clearly meet the unanimous appro-
bation of Parliament The eulNinin .of the Honourable
baronet on the Loyalty of the bulk of the people of Ireland,
Was unnecessary ? Who ever doubted it ? It was said that

the Nlilitia Service had received a blow ; with respect to that
of Ireland, lie knew not what blow it received, but he well
kneW what blows it gave—it gave Rebellion in that Country
a mortal blow ; they gave repeated blows to their Enemy—
and he was confident they would do so again, whenever the
opportunity was afforded them.
Lord Dz B LA UIERE was proc'eeding to deliver his senti-
ments, When he was interrupted 'by
TILE St.t AK EN, who said, lie Oe:leved the Noble Lord had
misconceived the nature of the alimaiment. He then stated
the tme:dion and ?lie amendment,' by which it was proposed
to Lave (mettle latter part or 'the Address.
His Lordship then resumed, and observed, he conceived
himself ar first perfectly in order, as his intent was to express-
tth4pprObation of the Address, as helleemed it .highlv•proper
at socritical a period to accept the services which had been ten-
deretiwi th so much loyalty ;liewas surprised that any hesitatiou
should exist tOr a moment to accept the proffered Services of so
large a body of loyal men in arno, With respect to an equal
otter of service on the part e,i the. English Militia, he well
knew the beneficial tendeecy of such a proceeding. He
collected their signal services to the Empire at large while
employed in Irclcint. To their exertions time salvation of
that Country , was owing. Were it not that the Regi-
ments of 'Lord Buckingham and the Duke of Rut-
land laddett'so opportunely as they did,' that Country woul,d.

*o idttgo have Ippertainea to 3ritain. He hoped the
English Militia would voluntarily crwie forward and
extend their services to Ireland. But he reprobated the
idea of this being done in the way of stipul ition. Was
the ardor of either Militia clogged in such a way, it
would-be injurious. to both Countries, and an insult to one.
He thought the Militia of Ireland could render the greatest
service to the Empire at large, when employed out of Ireland,
problematical as this may appear. He telt it to be the case.
He felt how it must operate, when a tathei and two or three
of his sons were perhaps fighting against the rest of his fa-
mily. He was aware of the ettea of religious prejudices, which
he lamented did yet unavoidably exist. In short he was con-
vinced those men would be more advantageously employed
any where than at their own thresholds.

i.ord ForoctsToriz made a few observations in support of
what had fallen from Gentlemen at his side of the House.
He particularly touched upon the fact alluded to by Mr,
C nLea A irt, that some of the offers of service were made
tour months ago, which he considered as an argument in fa-
vour of postponing the discussion ;- and he took occasion to
deprecate the pradice of suffering Military Bodies to delibe-
rate.

The Question was loudly called for,
Mr. Secretary 'YORKE said a few words in expla tion, and
the gallery was cleared preparatory to a Division. No such
proceeding, however, took place. The Address was card
as originally proposed, and while the Strangers were 'ex-
clndad, the House adjourned at Twelve o'clock till the
usual hour this day.

Dr.)t,

flamburgh -2,
Lisbon o

MAILS.

ARRIVED.
- 0

THE SUN•

SOLE6I QUIS DICERE FALSUM AUDEAT ?

LONDON, MARCH 29, 1804.

SEVERAL Vessels sailed yesterday from the Downs
for their respective stations off Boulogve and Ca/air.
The Stone Expedition, as we have already informed
the Public, seems, for the present at least, given
up.

Tlf E account which we gave yesterday of the Cap-
ture-of the Island of Go-et, on the Cuast of Africa,
is confirmed by two Foreign Vessels arrived at Fah
mouth, the one from Teneriffe,- the other from Se-
negal. It was on the 18th of January that it was
attacked by six Privateers, having on board about
600 men. The English Garrison consisted only of
about so. The attack was desperate, and the re.
sistance gallant and determined, and the , conse.
querice was, that the Enemy had about too men
killed and wounded-47 of the former. We last ;Cs
out of our small number. The defence made by Col.
FRASER was must highly creditable to him and his
little Force, and so raised him in the opinion even
of his Assailants, that he obtained an honourable
Capitulation. The Coast of Africa is infested with
French Privateers, which must wholly destroy our
Trade in that quarter, A Frigate or two, it is
said, sailed from Plymouth last month with some
Troops on board for our African Garrisons) but it
is evident that they have been sent too late. One
Sloop of War on the Coast would have prevented
this disaster.

We understand that the French force consisted
of one Ship of 20 guns, four Schooners of 14 guns
each, and some smaller Vessels. Dr. HE anLE,
Surgeon to the Garrison of Goree, is the only Officer
woundeiPl and it will be gratifying to his friends
to hear that he is recovering. The Garrison are
pri‘oners of War on Parole t►ll regularly exchanged.
Private property is secured.

The }retch were in possession of the hill which
command, the Works, and the Garrison left in pos.
session of but one' Batter), when they surrendered.

Mr. Secretary 'Y. It E yesterday broughi forward
his Plan in theflouse of Commons, for increasing
the Military Force of the Country. The main
ohjed of it, he stated to be, to suspend for one year
the operation of
.the Army of Reserve Bill, and
in the man time, by a regular and fixed Bounty of
Ten Guineas, to endezt7Our to recruit the Regular
Army, to which he proposed to aid zg,ooo men.
He also proposed to bring over to this Country
io,ooo of the Irish Militia, adding at the same'time
a similar number to that force in Ireland.

An.additional Foreign force of 8000 men is like.
wise proposed by Ministers, in addition to a levy
now going on in our AMerican and West Indian
Possessions, which is estimated at 4000 men.

With respect to those Counties which have not
made up their quota of men for the Army of Re.
serve, it is intended to propose a pecuniary fine,
proportioned to r!t number of men deficient.

Mr. Secretary YoaKE seemed in the course of his
Speech to hold out an expedation of some offeNsive
measure. We sincerely hope that the torpor which
seems to have seized us, may soon be relieved by,
some decisive operation against the common Enemy
of Europe and mankind.

Yesterday the DUKES 01 CVMBER LAND, KENT,
and CAMBRIDGE, dined wirli HER. MAJESTY.
YeSlcrday at two o'clock a Cabinet Louncil was
held at Lord HAWKE,BURY's Office, at which the
Russian, Neapolitan, and Swedish Ministers attend-
ed. The Council broke up at hail past three.

The report stated in one of the Evening Papers,
of the embarkation of part of the 523 Regiment, is
wholly void of foundation.

This morning arrived a Mail from Lisbon,
brought to Falmouth by the Diana Packet, in ten
days.

Yesterday died, at Montreal, the Hon.Wita.tAlvt
VITT AbelllhßsT, second sun ullurd