The Sun.
London, England, 1804-03-01 00:00:00

out stareely any Cruizers to annoy our Trade;
her whole naval means were shut up in her Ports,
with a view to that fiirmidable expedition which she
rn ditatcd against thiS,• Country. He meant no di-
rea accusation against the Admiralty, but lie had
beard that with respeft toa Flotilla for the defence
of our coast, there had hien-great negleft ; he had
heard it said, that on apart of the coast where seve-
ral persons had volunteered their services for its
defence, they were •Oot provided, even so late as
Christmas. last, with guns for their vessels ; and
this he heard from Gentlemen residing in that part
of the country. When he adverted to the Con-
sideration of our land force, what were the means
we possessed at the breaking out of the War ?
We had an Army not very strong in point of num.
bers, but strong in experience and in point of mi-
litary discipline ; we possessed what we might call
the soul of an Army, greater than at any former
period ; we possessed also a population, brave,
and ready to take an aElive part in the defence
of the country. What was then to be done to
diffuse the spirit of the Army through as great
a mass of people as possible ? The natural way
of proceeding would have been, to have filled up all
the old Regiments, and in procuring additional Bat-
talions, to have economized as much as possible the
experienced Officers. After filling up the Regular
Regiments, he would have formed something in the
way of Reserve, that should have been intelligible :
lie would have formed from the youth of the Country
who were unincumbered with families, a Body of Men
tinder the tuition of a certain number of Officers of
the Line, stationed in each distria, who should
have taught them their exercise in the mast simple
way, merely confining it. to the use of the fire_
lock. These persons need not have beers called
into aftual service unless in the event of Inva-
sion, and then in being placed in Regiments of
the Line, they would have had a confidence in
their Officers, knowing that they would not be
exposed to any unnecessary danger. But an irre-
gular Force, like our VoluNeers, where. the whole
body of Officers from the highest to the lowest were
completely without experience, could not be parat.
leled in any period of history. Xh.e whole consti.,
tution this force from beginning to end, he hear-
tily disapproved of. Coe of the principal evils
which Pun through the whole establishment was, the
blunder about the exemptions from the Militia and
Army of Reserve ; this certainly must have arisen
out of mistake ; it never was expeacd by the peo_
ple ; it never was intended by Parliament; and if
Ministers intended it, they deceived Parliament.—
The only exemption intended to be held out was,
that if a sufficient number of Volunteers came.for-
ward in any particular Distrift, that the compulsory
provisions of the Defence Aft should not then be car.
ried into execution. This was a sufficient exemption,
if any inducement Were wanting ; but it was a libel
' upon the people to say, that they required any such in.
(lucerne nt. The die& of these exemptions was this,
that they crippled every other part oft= force.—
For making some observations upon this subject, he
had on a former occasion been called the 4t Regu.
lar Colonel ;" he wished all the Colonels of the
Line might be allowed the privilege of being called
Regular Colonels, for now when Colonels were to
be met with at every corner of the street, he thought
that those who sacrificed the greatest part of their
lives in the service, were entitled to some mark of
disrinelion ; and to be called Regular Colonels
would distinguish them from those who ,were not.
Much had been said about the number of. Men
we had in arms, and it was asked if four hundred
thousand men in arms were not enough ? He
granted that they were enough to prevent the
subjugation of the Country, but not enough for
the destruftion of our Enemy in the way in which
be ought to be destroyed. It had been said that
uot above one-feorth of the Volunteers were of the
first Class ; he should like to see the second. and
third Class employed, not in driving the cattle, or
destroying property, but in destroying the Enemy.
He should like, in short, to see an armed Peasantry,
whom he sheuld conceive to be not merely as good
as the present Volunteers, but much better.' It had
been said on a former occasion, that we had expe-
rience of the Volunteers, but none of an Armed Pea-
santry ; but many instances of the efficacy of the
latter description of Force might be adduced from
modern history. In La :Vendee the exertions of
an Armed Peasantry were sufficiently evident ; the
Troops at first sent against theirs were what
our Volunteers now are; they were attacked by
this Armed Peasantry and totally annihilated. Many
of the peasantry of that country were in fact on.
armed, or armed only with implements of agricul.
tore. So high an opinion had he of a force of this
description, that he should be happy to have the
command of iOOO peasants to be trained according
to his ideas upon the subject, and if he did not do
something that should he creditable to them and to
himself, he should he willing to be dismissed the
service. The distinftion between an Armed Pea-
santry of this description and our Volunteers was
great : in the first place, there would he an Un-
important difference with respect to' dress, for an
Armed Peasantry would not be cloathed like soldiers ;
he would give them notirieng but a great.coat, a knap-
sack, and a bag to carry provisions. As to training, he
would not wish for a better Serjeant to teach them the
use of the musket than a Game-keeper, or an old
Poacher, for it would be only necessary to teach them
how to handle it so as they might not shoot them-
selves or their-neighbours, and in the next place that
they might shoot an Enemy; but whether they carried
it on the left shoulder or the right, or on, no shoul-
der at all, was of very little consequence. As to
manoeuvres, he would teach them none but the most
simple, and such as would take them no more than
three or four days to learn. To climb a hedge, or
get through it to attack the Enemy at the next, to
go through a gate, and charge the Enemy in line,
would be all that they need- learn. What had we
in the Volunteers ? 'they looked like Soldiers; so
much the worse ; they were not Soldiers, nor could he
made Soldiers, and therefore to make them look like
Soldiers was setting a bad example, which might
have a very ill effect upon Regular Troops. It had
been said, that they might be taken by an Enemy
for Regular Troops, but this might have a very bad
effea, for if they were defeated, the most injurious
`consequences might result—whilst if they defeated
the Enemy's Troops, they might say, that they had

been LeAten by Troops of the Line. On the con-
trary, if they w"re beaten by an Armed Peasantty,
who were _immediately to be recognized as such,
they would see at once that it was impossible to
proceed lurtlicr in a Country defended by the whole
of -its' population. Mil to th;S,.that if a body of
Volunteers, forming part of an Army were de-
feated, the General might conceive that a part
of his Regular Troops had been beaten, anti
make his arrangements accordingly. The system
of training the Volunteers he extremely objeaed
to it; was not better than that of an Armed Peasantry,
hut a.great deal worse. It was upon a system bor.
rowed from the Prussians, and formed by the King
of Prussia, which was extremely well adapted to the
War he carried on upon a large plain, where solid
and extensive movements were necessary ; but here
it was wholly inapplicable from the situation of the
Country, interseded as it was by hedges and in.
closures. He had a very high respect for General
DUNDAS, but let any man take the Book contain-
ing his system, in his pocket, and mount his horse
and ride over the Country, and lie would immediate-
ly see that it was not applicable. All that Troops
could do wou!d be to fire behind a hedge, or to ad-
vance, to the next hedge, and charge the Enemy
through a gate as well as they could. But when
the Volunteers found they could not prac-
tise what they had - learned, they would be
disconcerted, they would not see an Enemy, but only
feel the fire as they advanced along hedges and
ditches.. They would see no solid body, and from
this difference 'to what they had been taught, they
would not only be disconcerted, but might eventu-
ally' be defeated, and that by a smaller number of
men.. He remembered when he was in Ireland, that
he ordered a Company 'of Militia to take possession
of an extensive Inclosure ;, what did the Captain do ?
Instead of placing his men along the ranks, he drew
them up in the middle, thus immediately rendering
them liable to be defeated. It had been objeeted
to the formation of an Armed Peasantry, that
our force could not be increased because there
were not sufficient arms. He did not mean to
blame the Board of Ordnance, but if the state.
meat that had beep made to the House was cor.
rest, there did appear to have been considerable
neglea with respell to arms, as hotly that,, statement
he believed, it would appear that not more than from
3o to 40,000 stand of arms had been issued above
what was in store at the commencement of the war.
It might be said, that there were arms in store, but
if so, why not put them into the hands of the Peo-
ple There was another point which demanded
their serious attention, and he wished that some
persons would be patriotic enough to set the fashion
for the use of the Pike, which might be rendered of
essential service in the hands of an Armed Peasantry.
The Peasantry in La Vendee, armed with Pikes,
Pitchforks, or whatever weapons they could get,
had advanced against the French Troops pro.
teaed bynumerous artillery. By throwing them-
selves on their faces, whenever they saw the
flash, they avoided destruaion, and then rushed
upon their adversaries, 'by which means they took
a great number of cannon. In this Country, like-
wise, it 'had been seen that a number of High.
landets, much inferior in point of discipline, had
beaten regular troops, 'by falling upon them with
the broad sword, after two or three discharges of
musketry. He had seen also, in Bengal, twelve
battalions of regular troops attacked in a similar
manner by the Sheiks, when that part of the Army
which was attacked was completely annihilated.
He felt that so much utility might be derived to the
service from the use of the pike, that he could not
help pressing His Majesty's Ministers to bring it
into use as generally as possible. He could not
help adverting to one subjea relating to, Volunteer
Corps, namely, the Volunteer Committees. The
Right
,Hon. Secretary of State had said, that
whilst confined to financial matters they could
do no harm, but how were they to be confined
to this ? Nothing was said about this in the
Bill ; he thought they ought to he expressly de.
Glared illegal. It might be said, " dismiss a
Corps, if it aels improperly," but the condufl al.
laded to, for want of a law to the contrary, might
be general, and then would they dismiss them in
the moment of danger ? It might be said they could
go into other Regiments, but would a man dismiss.
ed with disgrace from one Corps readily enter into
another ? Another evil was, the general assemblies
of Corps, who met to deliberate, like armed Parlia.
meats. Against this also there should 'be a po.
sitive law. With respea to Fortification, Mi-
nisters had not done all that they might have
done ; they might t ave foreseen that Bonapart
had deterrilined to attack this Country, and that
the Peace could not be of long duration, and there-
fore ought to have provided accordingly. During
the Peace there was nothing but one continued se.
ties of insult and aggression on the part of the Ene-
my, and 'he should be ashamed of his Country if
he could suppose that Englishmen could have sat
down in the confidence that ...hat Peace could be of
long duration. Ministers ought to have been pre-
pared for what they must have foreseen would hap-
pen. As it was, if the Enemy should be enabled
to land in any great number, it was impossible for
any one to say that we might not experience some
great temporary disaster, He begged leave to be
understood, that in recommending Mortification, he
did not recommend such measures as the entrenched.
Camp at Chelmsford. He was glad to hear that a
part of that Camp had fallen into the ditch, and
he hoped the remainder would, as it could be
of no advantage whatever, unless the Enemy had
a particular wish to run his head 'against an
entrenched camp. By Fortification he meant strong
detached works, and certainly not one continued
line, which could only lead to the defeat of an army.
It put him in mind of a remark made by a person in
Ireland, who wished all the Cavalry in that King-
dom to be colleaed on the Curragh of Kildare. If
Infantry could be persuaded to come and meet them
there, this would do very well, and so if an enemy
chose to come to the entrenched camp at Chelms-
ford, he might be defeated. When an enemy's
army was advancing, there appeared to him two
modes of stopping it, the one by forming an en-
trenched Camp in such a position that he cannot ad-
vance without fighting ; the other by forming a
camp in the Enemy's line of Communication
.hetwcen.
him and his magazine. But would any man say that

the camp at Chelmsford could prevent ail Enemy from
reaching the Capital, as he might easily come by ano-
ther road, whilst the:idea of its being upon this line
of cornmunicatiortsyis absurd; He would undertSke
to prove that Ministers had not-done all they could
for the defence of the:Country ; there were vulnerable
points which might easily have been proteled, and
even considerable Magazines were left without that
proteoion•which they ought to have had, They
might have been fortified so as not to have been taken
by assault ; -not by the small' low batteries which
were now used, and which were easily taken, nor
by Martello towers, but by a species of impreg-
nable battery, which could not be taken by assault
by any number of infantry, but could only be by
saps or by ereding another battery close upon the
spot. He had the opinion of an Officer of high
rank, that if orders had been given for ereding
these batteries, they might long since have been
constructed, and have tended materially to the pro.
[cajun of the vulnerable parts of our Coasts. Upon
all 'these points he pledged himself to prove, that
Ministers had not done all that they ought to have
done for the defence of the Country.
General 111 AITL AND said, there was much gal.
lantry in the Speech of the Hon. Member who had
sat down, although there was not much novelty in
it ; but he confessed he heard much of that speech
with very considerable regret and concern. In
looking at the preparations of this Country, he
might have been led to suppose that the I-lon. Mem-
ber would have looked at them as a whole, instead
of entering into a minute detail, and dwelling upon
particular parts with a curiosity of criticism. He
should have thought that he might have taken some
pleasure in . stating points which appeared to be
favourable to this Country in the present prospect
of things, in the present contest ; he should have
thought some notice might have been taken of those
things which were apparently to the disadvantage
of the Enemy—not a syllable of the Army of France,
but of its being an excellent Army, headed by a man
of uncommon genius and fortune, full of enthusiasm
&c. that they were an Army of-Veterans, &c. He
should have thought it might have occurred to that
Hon. Officer that they were not all Veterans ; he
should have thought that Hon. Officer might have
stated, that among our own Army there were some
veterans competent' to meeting 'those -of France, or
,any other Army in this world; he should have
thought that the Hoh. Officer would haveltad'Seinie
pleasure in stating that of this mighty and boasted
Army of France, there were some parts composed of
Italian and other Conscripts ; he should have
thought it might have occurred to the. Hon. Officer
that the Militia of ibis-Country were equal and
competent to meeting an- equal number- of any
men; and that the Hon. Officer might have look-
ed at the Volunteers in a differenr point of view
from that in which he did view them—that- he,
would have found some consolation' in reflecting
that the mass of doe Volunteers cf this Country was
a body of men preparing to fight for the King, the-
Constitution, the Liws, and the Liberties of it, and
that the Hon. Officer would have had some pleasure
in reflecting on the contrast between such men and
those Conscripts of France, who were torn from
their relations, fathers from their children, and
children froth. their parents, coming towards our
shores in fetters. He should have thought that the
Hon. Officer would have had some pleasure in expa,
slating on these fads ; but he took'no such view of
the subjed. The Honourable Officer had ailed, ,he
was bound to believe, from the purest motives, pod
other Hon: Gentlemen who had pursued the same
line orcondud, 'had aded from the purest motives,
for what appeared to them to be the' interests of their
Country ; yet he could not help saying, he had
heard their rspeeChes 'with considerable regret, not
that he apprehended the ingenuity which they'shew.
ed, would in the least degree shake the determina.
tion of the people -of this Country in the pursuit of
their cause, or todtice them to fear the Enemy, but
he took up the subject in another point of view ;
he thought the speech of the Hon. Officer and some
other speeches he had of- late heard in that House,
would, or might have in some respeCts a bad effect,
for it must be well known now to every body, that
what was said within the' doors of that House -was
not confined to the Members of that House, nor to
this Country, but went to the Enemy, as Cvelhas all
over the rest of the world, and he could not help
thinking, there was no ingenuity that could be em-
ployed in France ;hat could more increase the energy,
and inspire the enterprize of the Troops there s()
much as some of the Speeches which had of late been
delivered in that House. He knew that was not
the intention of those Honourable Members, but
that he thought was likely to be the circa of their
Speeches.—This course of speaking in that House,
had a tendency to invite the Enemy to come among
us, and if they did, he had the confidence and hap-
piness to think that the event would be ;nose
glorious to this Country than Kad ever yet been re-
' corded in the annals of the world. Having said this
on the tendency of these• Speeches, he should take a
short view of the topics urged by the Hon. Officer
who had just preceded him in the Debate, although
he should not be minute upon them all, many of
which, unless he had heard them pressed repeatedly,
were such as he hardly should have thought neces.
sary to answer. The first point he had to take no-
tice of was, that of the Exemptions of the Volun.
teers. The Hon. Officer had stated broadly and
roundly, that these Exemptions had had the effed
of hindering the Recruiting of our Army, the rais-
ing of the Army of Reserve, and of interrupting the
progress of the Militia, and possibly that it might
have had the effect (for sometimes that had been in-
sisted upon) of hindering the raising of our Marine
Force; that was the force pf Land-men of .the
Navy. The best answer to these round and
broad assertions was, that they were contrary
to the fad as it stands. As it was only an as.
section, without proof, he should have thought it
would have been followed up by some arguments to
shew at least the probability of this assertion ; but
the Hon. Officer had been contented with stating it-
as a fie}. Now he would ask, upon the subject of
these Exemptions, if there- was any thing to hinder
Volunteers from entering into the service of the
Navy or of the Regular Army in any part of the
world ? He knew of no such exemption ; he knew
of nothing that prevented any Volunteer from enter-
ing
asa Substitute in any part of the Army; neither

•
did he know of any exemption which preVented
in
Volunteer trom entering as a Substitute to serve
the Militia. Nor dirt he believe that any consi-
derable number of the Volunteers would have served
theeithenroinexetp
n Atli,illnit;iaf oror theiie AkrArmyo
them to be persons capable of providing Substitutes,
and this was the last part and most material one, in
the great Reserve
gre at t fui tlley4.
the whnie of the Hon. Officer's speech upon what he
called the evils of the exemi.tions of the 'Volunteers, •
for he intl pressed it much to the House, that manY
of .the -Volunteers; if drawn, must have served:,
personally in the Militia and in the Army of Re',
serve, because they could not find Substitutes. Noivi
to judge of that, it would be necessary to see tile .
number of Substitutes who are now serving, an.3'
then it would appear that with regard to the
i)k,
had
tia and the. Army of Reserve, the numbers were patA.
;
one to loco of those who could not provide Soh'. t
satiates ; anti thus- it' appeared to him that Gerstlf‘
men would do better if they adhered a little more rd
matter of fad, and indulged less
in speculations and
round assertioos upon these topics ; a little n"fie•
adherence to the fad would have spared the observa-!.
tion that the Volunteer system had prevented the
raising of the Militia and the Army of Reserve'..
As to the price which these Substitutes would have
cost for the Army of Reserve, the principle o°,ll •
which Gentlemen proceeded was erroneous,-
price was not higher now than it had been in t";
course of the last War. This exemption of ,
Volunteers had been stiled a bonus:. now in e°ll'
sidering this matter, and estimating the value of thll. •
exemption, the correct way was, not to consider'
the price of a Substitute, but the price of the
insurance by which a man might secure a Substitute
in the event of his being drawn. Now upon chae
.
subject the average price in Scotland was a guifle;
and an half ; in some instances a guinea, in marl ";e
guinea and an half, io same few, two guineas, bekt
never higher than two guineas ; and then he u.)°',
ask, what became of this famous bonus ? What V/3‘.
granted to the Volunteer by way cf exemptil:.
was next to nothing in value ; and the Volunic-
in this re,ped, instead of receiving a bonus sustait'e
a
,f.
a loss, and that a considerable one, by being a d;:t.
lunteer, instead of being subjea, like anYs 13-the
person, to all other levies—Having said this (30c the
Volunteers, he shmild now take a short view
discipline of the Volunteers ; and upon that subl
he owned he was astonished at• almost every argt"
ment which had been advanced by the Holluurab.6
Officer to the discredit of the System of -Volunteer
—What the Honourable Officer, and indeed maafl
others ccnvey'ed; was" ,neither more nor less illac
this,
,that they are sorry that the Volunteers 110 .
:learnt too much : Now if they had.learot too Much.'„,
had they not at least learnt as much as thesefla;
nourable Gentlemen wished them to learn. A flea
the Armed Peasaatry, the General said he ,
G
never been able to understand precisely whit et'',
roficex•
tlemen meant by them. The Honourable
:'-'%O,
'had said that an Armed Peasantry would drive
lightning the French into the Sea if o'o' must
hither—Now -if they were to do this, they he
some how or other do it by tangible matter
presumed would the Volunteers. The Hoii•
however wished these Peasants to stand behind
bedgesin twenties anti tensaogether, and those w°_easse--
be Men who learnt the use of artns only for a few Op
or perhaps only a few hours. Such a pos'se cootila.
as that would never do. The Hon. Officer sh°h'is
his head, and yet this was what he had said i e to.
Speech, and these were the persons who ''vetfeero
drive
the French into the sea, and the Arqldl.sreill
were not to do it. This species of defensive i -
which' the Honourable Officer would adopt,
make these Armed Peasantry good soldiers after soy
totoy
or three campaigns, and they had met a
disasters, for that would he the only sPecl j -
drilling . which they would have ; and this W_, st
,
species 'of adversity which that system would "'"Je
probably bring upon the Country if it was adOttscie
for until men had been drilled, a musket on tafh.
shoulders was hardly of any use to them atrimC
With regard to the Book of Regulations tess
Eiereise, published by order of his Royal
the Commander in Chief, the Honourable
said it was to:ally Useless as applicable to the fp.
lunteer Corps. Now he agreed with the the
nourahle Officer; when he said that as te„,ltr"
4
Regular Army,- or Militia, or Volunteers, "TO
tog in this Country, that the mode
they would be called upon to ad must be d2ll-: the
from that which is adopted in other Counifichisvai
truth was, thittour system of matters t-auallY
of training had more tactic in it than was 0411,
necessary, or ever adopted in action, but
were brought to ad further than was necessarPoss.•
not incapacitate them from awing, as far as Lilt the
sity required. He thougrht, thetefore, that wila only .
Volunteers had gained in knowledge, was 0000
useful to themselves, but would be highly "5c a be
the Country at large in the hour of adioni 31:5014
could not help saying that theme was muchniffi. cer
information in the Book to which the 14°"*, -„slue
had alludtd, and which he thought of so little
.gel
to the Volunteers in this Country. 1-1°- ;stet°
this, and having said that in his opinion the 60' that
adopted by the Volunteera was preferable short
stated by the Hon.. Officer, lie should take 3.,„biel
view of the cloathing of the Volunteers' reds
was objeded to on account of its )iting, n"rtP•
He owned he did not see. any objet I°to
this, and the Honourable Officer seetTle,l
quarrel with the cloathing of the VolunteerA'ralY;
cause it was better than iliac of the Regular to the
nor did he agree with the Hon; Officer as the
effect which their appearance would have ur_te as,
Enemy., He had said also, that we would ha:. fie
Reserve if any of the Volunteers were deteite°o
did not assent to that, fur if 301,000 of thetanooll
the field of battle, another JO,OOO %%4)110 ilijoiep
fill up their place, or fill the place of His untor'
ty's Regular Troops, if the Enemy shOU iron
tunately defeat them. Neither would rhet.t.dsitil4
think of beating them so easily as they miry/ere ttl
of beating men in smock frocks ; but if they
other 0
defeat one army, they would soon see site SO
well cluathed, possibly better, perhaps not„q.i,,filli
well drilled as the former, yet drilled sub 016
; 013* id
for the purpose of action , which, he sa''',.
case at this infunent, for he had tie heel er°
saying, that the Volunteers of this Countc.... WI(
; sufficiently drilled for the purposes of alto