The Sun.
London, England, 1804-04-24 00:00:00

Sovereign, and to hiniselfrandhis frienJa whoaaad,
with him, to resist a Motion made 4iktimeaundtt,
tiretmma4ees, and, in such a manners that nothing
could justify'. ' 'The Motion, in his opinion, called.
on every Member of the House to look at it care_
fully, 'and. to seethe drift of it, and-then to ask himself
Ivliether* 'upon a view' of all circumstances, it claim-
f
ed'his assent or not, as. a matter of public duty, 'lf
assented to, it would callafrom their present station
many of the most considerable persons in the
branches of the public service. to .he present
at : the prOposed inquiry ; not that 'he alledged
that as a reason why the Motion should not be
adopted ; for if the *public welfare required it, the
• measure.shotild be adopted at all hazards. He only
stated it as one "of 'the. effeAs of assenting to the
Ifldtion, the more to caution the :House against as-
senting to it without a.gooddeal of refle6tion. His
main objedion to it was, that the •Hon. Gentleman.
had not laid,any-Parliamentary ground for the.adbpa•
tion of it. 'Upon these consideration' s', he felt it in. cumbent on him, and he trusted he should find .a-
large majority of the House agyee with him; to tile
this Motion a decided negative.
Mr. PITT.—" I cannot.ag re with Right
Hon, Gentleman who h the'
as just spoken, in'the de:.
seriptionfof the- Motion which- is-n6Wr hatare the
House.. It t a_Moticn, in my view of it,. which is
neither caleolated to etnbrace opinions 'hostile to Ga.
. vernmenc nor towny Ministers whatever, nor tcier...
brace opinions that may.. have been 'entertained `on
small and"mioute points,„and ahereby.ptoduce a ge ,a,
neral concurrence against M r's.
their conduEt iniste to criticize upon
, when such-Members might have but
small and minute differences in their opinions as to
the detail of a system to which they-generally as.
. sent ; but it is a 'Motion to embrace all those who
consider that such a measure ought to be adopted
. and substituted for that which they consider to be
(- Inadequate for our defence, arid to call thB'attention
of those who are disposed 'to take a grave and radical
seview of our public affairs-aaa review of all the re-
sources which Government have brought- forward,'
who think that no part of our Defence is ade'quate to
. what we ought to extie6--all those who are con-
' vinced, by experience; that - after itwelye' months
have been given to these Gentlemen to exhauSt all
the resource of their minas, to amend; and whai.
they have thought; to improve from thersoggetation •
of others, all those who are convinced, upon mature
reflealiona that-from the'", convinced'
MinisterS,:- or un-
,
der them, nothing'is'likelY to oiiginate to give to
ttiis Country any fair' chance of aving. what ia'-due,
to its own zeal h
, and its own exertion, at die most
important and the most critical peribd that ever
existed in its :History, which he embraced by the.
I present Motion ; and .1 conf;is lam one of
Who look at this sulSjeti in that
.point of vie•.v, and
I am inclined to support thia Motion on almost all
the grounds which the,Honouraible Gentleman urged
yvho moved it. I ftel it My duty ,to my Sove-
reign,
.and to my Country,. to do so, not only on
as
„the reasons whiclnithai HonOurable Gen
has used in support of it, but. also for many v. hich
Gentleman
he omitted to state, and ivhieli I- shall `slightly
touch upon, llut the and
Ffon.Gentleanao who
apoki last, with all his recolleation of
Parliament, 'and With ' l force of his- imagina.
_
. a I the the Records a
"900 Which he indulged to supply his recollection,
bas Only proved that he laneSs, of no Motion like the
Present ; and also by the same authority, whioli.ia
Limatlf, that when air
the cometances are extraordinary.
Measures aa ofba;(1, fOr them are ,likewise extra,.
ordinary.; and. I think we may add, that _what..
tact. extraordinary -measures may.. be adopted, the'
present crisis which reqUires them ' is alsO extra,
ordinary i anti Otis the Right Hon: G.entleman ap
d • Psars to besurprizeVd at, :as if it were extraordi.
nary to propose a CoMmittee of tliis I:louse, to
consider of the means, fofi'prOviding•for the Defence
of the Country; as of it were extraordinary, that
after twelve months of the WA,, preced
rsed by a P.eaceo Which, by
.the'confession.of Ministe' themselves,.
Was a mere notice of that Waraand a War' in which
they theopelves,have lieen.eiliausted in their skill
and yet
have
the course of the- ldst twelve mtuiths,
!hey have brought forward nothing' in which there
l'aid, not been a variety of contradinions in ' the
1,17, rePtitaricies in the measures, and imbecility
he exectition.• Noth. in I. fi
Ing w tic , every step,
has' not been marked - •
by unnecessary delay ; and at
last the measures adoived • -
r . ,
aanotiotiog almost to a re-
tradion of the princtide upoil which it was, fc-nded-
I should say it is extraordin. • - "--i- '' :
Binary indeed, if after olv-
.
i
in.g such ,and so many i a ,
meiancnoty pronfs that MI:
'lnters -themselves, after repeated trials, 'have- proved
d
what is... to
.be enefted 'from ' the - I-what
tats . m,
they. have prOduced—if this Hon.-ie. did-. '
quire into this. !.nportant SUbjea in-
i tne.ini for the be-
,. in the poise not
Of:
being al,le to devise some better fence .of the Country than arty ''• ilthey have
brought wait:
brought forward' for brat '*- a- '
purpose ; a course in.
he * ' •
ift. • Y are permitted to go on, there. can be no hope
of safety.to this Country - Such 'has beeriihe'Mode.
an which.they have .'
'charge of
•nanaged the imoortant o
defending' the-Coon:I •' Y• I feel that lam eon-yelled to
make this strong aial ex I- ' declaration. ' • sea_
e' t of my sea-
ti •
men.s, I tL) consider 1 ' ''increase
tae measure tor the
of the- Regular Arn• . ' .I'' ' '-
'y as a measure fur w iich Minis-
, lets at e Coable tO provide a 'for his only a taw night's
azp we had the confession of Ministers themselves,
that th • •••
' ••
. '
. c necessity was so.gaeat for the making a pro.
vision for this purpoSe;that th ' .they
e measure theta- aelve •
s had formed f ' dthey
y brought OrWdr , would=
consent to abaodon, if by any other tite:-oure thein
crease of the Regular Army could he'produeed. • I
do not mean to say any thing of' the. propriety of
the measure proposed u it'd hi ft of an Armed
Peasantry —not of substitutes le
su
-e
.g an ArmcdPeasa, y
for the Vcquweers
; which . the Right Hon. Gen-
tleman_ vvho spake last, at one time was' 'about
to atate, as. being the 't'the il is
idea o • onoura
' 'Gentlernan whO has brow 1
,
git forward this Motion
but he set- himself 'right f ' •
s and admitted
a le. rward , .
of a rdiffeien- ce,-nOt a. ver
dd..
.....
y slight one, that ofa
ingan Armed' reaaantry to the Volunteers, instead
of Substituting, them for. the VOlttnieers.- And if
there are persons who think, thoi,.. if; point of sub_
stance, the VOlUnteers. ate more-essential for the
Armed i
gitta____l and efficient service of ripe County i than ;he
Armed Pe." • • • .---'
-----
- -
santry, as certainly there are great num-
- bets that would be f. I. '
to a tering quality of our
. , ILO& -tif Defence; ' but -then- they may assent
1...„
to laving the aid of the Peaiantry; hut not id
tte Way in which 'it was stated by:the Right
---a

Honour able,G-en Ore-flan ; as to Vol tee rs,
• we have a right to avail ourselve-s o(olie full, benefit
of that' orce ; a Force whiCh wac 'flit'e*ns and. rosily
is, a lavo'nrite with this lionSe and the Poblie
Force,. whateVer. it Moy have. been in its aright, has:
non', the advanta boe 'of Mein}; foinitd,:ano bei.ng in
a great state of esciency cii a Itorce, toough none-
.*of its efliciency has been owing fa Ministers.. .01.0
• •
ten tt has produced among us some difference of (»i
niOn, as tothe precise extent to - which yan should
carry it, and as to the, circumstances under which
. you should render it must eft:a.ual : but it is a
force. which all,of us.allo.wed to be an extremely
valuable force ; and. now there
.is hardly any dit.
ference .between the Honourable Gentleman who
made this Motion, arid His. Majesty's Government
on the stibjeet of the Armed Peasantry, he says,
it *may be a- proper thing if Ministers and Par,
liainen.t shall' think it right. So' the Right Hon.
Gentleman has gone the length of -admitting the
measure may be right, if he shall hereafter think
so. I say, I 'think, it' clearly ,riglit that you
Should institute an Inquiry wheelier it is right or
not. And the Right Hon. Gentleman tells us, he.
will Consider,- some day or other, Whether it is or is
not right ; and when does. he say this At a pc-.
riod, six manilla after he 'told us, that we might-
expea an,extensive and foiritidatsle: InvaSioo
twenty-fclur hotar's of 'the time. in which it
,was
spoken--at a tittle when 'one` half of the difficulty of
the. Enemy upon the Subjeft of the Invasion is over
wl-en his Navy, in coMparison to the Na 4 of
,this
great and Chantercial Country, was absolutely
•mcist nothing—a .Naval Force not 'so much as wor-,
thy of notice,, except for contenipt=cd-Mpiled-
of nothing but a- few, light conteanotible vessels
under their own shores, which we were confidently
told ..could not come out in day-light ; and yet we
hi6fe seen that EneMy, in sight or our own
coast, without disgulSe,' and in' defiance of our
Fleet,:oweek' after Week,- accumulate on the point
of his."coast .neares '*to oar ,own shore,,froin two
hundred.: to. thirteen.. or fourteen hundred vessels
and-.transports, capab:e of holding each from too to
20 men, and these have'' been brought from The
east: to the west' point of his-- own' coast, and not-
withstanding the force of this Country, he has as,
seenbled 'ail this immense force in one place, when
we were -tOld that he never could, and, When we
were told that he must sail from 'a variety of ports,'
and that he would haVe to encounter a Variety of ,
winds and currents, and be subjetst to the intelligence
which he. must bbtain before he attempted it ; all
this he has done already, which hasofrequently been
stated to be
,so difficult, and this itt the teeth
and in defiance of the . Navy of this Country,
without .he- interception of that Navy : : We are
therefore not to consider every thing irripossible
for that ' Enemy to do, 'which appears 'to His
Majesty's Ministers to be 'impossible to be done.
To a man of adventure and desperate enterorize,
but who has been often fortunate, not only by know:
ink how to take advantage of good fortune when if
presents itself, but by also knowing how to take care
not to stand in the way, or be deterred by the pros.
veft of evil fortune : and yet we are toy be tOld. by
Ministers, that the Invasion of thhi Country is pre.
carious, or so remote, that W.e are to regard it in a
speculative view, and treat as a question, 'not of
argument, what are the best means to meet it, but
to, suffer Ministers to -consider, some time or-other,
for the Right HAI, Gentleman . tells you it is not
now that he will do ro, whether- Armed
Peasantry.
inOy not be useful to assist our other force to defend .
the Counties of Kent, Susses, Of' Essex ; and so, if.
theEttetny should make good a"landing, prevent
that Enemy mateltingo•on towards the Metropolis
But What is the mode which the Right Hon.
.(t> think is unconstitutional, as
it is now proposed by this Motion ? It, is that
.of a . Committee of the whole House ro consider
of
.the„proper mode foo_the National Defence, of re-
viewing.,what has past, to correet errors, to supply
deficiencies, to add any thing that may have been
omi:ted fOr. the purpose of rendering ohel)efence of
the Kingdom complete. Now, 'as to a Committee
of the whole House, for that is' the Committee which.
I. understand to be the..:ollieft of the Motion •to ob-
tain, and not a Seleet Coimpittee, as. stated by the
Right Hon. Gentlernn, so far is it from being an
unconstitutional mode of 'proceeding, that it is
strialy constitutional, and agreeable to the con-
stant and the best usage of Parliament ; so that
I am surprised to hear rhe*Righe Hon. Gentle;rll4n
with his great knowledge of the usages of ratlia-i.
merit, knowledge_Whielt. he most have possessed in
that Chair, where .he long sat much for the benefit
of the Public and to hiS own credit, doubt that the
course proposed is unconstitutional. It is''so re.eular,
that not only no objekion can be urged against' ',t-
on that account, but it is, the cinly'course that.could
be so for the, purpose intended to be answered by:
it ; namely, a consider.; tiOtt of this House of the.'
best means for the Defence 'Of: the Kingdoin--=-*-.
You have a Grand, Committee on' Trade
Granel ;Committee. Re•ligiOn--.--4: Grand Com-
mittee on COurts of Justice,' and,' a Grand Com-
mittee on the Defence or State of the Nation ; so.
that it either of these obje.ds wete'attempted to be
obtained, yoU,. Sir;` sitting in* that'd-lair, know full
well it would be your duty to prevent the question
being .put on'either of these 4teattopici without re.
ferring it, to oneof these Grand comMittees.--,
The Alitestion then is,. Whetlier, 'We 'are sittisfid
that our Defence, such Si, has been the
care of Ministers, is what :it ought to he, and if.
not, what is, now proposed is the Course we ought
to. adopt ? •Socondly, whether our -experience of the
ExecutiveGovernment,in the.coUtst'of the last as well
as present year, doe's not satisfy uS;Th'itt from the pre.
sent Ministers nothing of enemy, vigour, prompt,
ness, or decision; is to be expected.,? For this Weo
are only to•loo*k at. theirmeasiarei of the last Session,,;
and of:this ; and• most par"ticularly their
dered anti fully digested -Volunteor Bill, 'which has
received2,Many, amendinenis; for the eotisic4.raltipn
of which a Committee is alreadY, appointed ; and
also the Manner in which they Prci)ose. ,to ,suspend,
without. a substitute, (he,* Army. of *ReserVe, whiCh
Was some
withoutmeasure of yoi r
satorye:lgth' other iantidducebm);etnh
e
bounty of Bts,
.
I prevail on men to enter, after they
,at a bounty of
30 guineas. have costifessed
they were unable to
pi ocute men
,Thus they proeoseoto 'take away en,*
',
titely a measure Which) has been of great use;
,and

•
1 its roost', to solistittlte nothing. I own I ate not
to ioin.with the Right .Hon. Gentleman in the
idea of :tieferringsSt consideration of Such a sdujed
`as this---I' cannot eidapt • that rang fr 24, -of.office
concerning the welt'are, or rather • the safety' of my
'Count! o, T, as a' Member of Parliament, think
.I.ambrouel to go •intiSthe Committee .now propoSed,
it, is not my intention at this time'to enter Minutely
into the particulars of those measnres in which -a
most paiplible negled of. duty and want of fore_
sight epos's!. in the coaadUCl of Nlinisiers ;.'but I may
state ...that I should have thought would have been
the objets:, wilich obviously ought to -claitit, their at-
tention. The R:,goiar Army, ais toe grand • bid-
wark-- of the Nation, was first to be•reeruited,
and the other kisseieSscif-foece raised such man-
ner as hot 'to interfere, or tointerfere as little es p 05....
the primary ;ohje El. But the roper me-
thods havenot been taken to .recrUit our RegUlar
Army ; and *even the Volunteeri, as•T coneendohave
by'no means been managed in a way that:Might rens
der theM of such esseoted advantage as Might have
been expe'aed. With respeCt to -the Volunteers,
they are. neither so adequate to the pUrpoSfiS of their
institneione'so well trained, -set well.distrihated, as
to their numbers in the several Coontiek, nor so'
useful in every Point of view, as they ought and
might easilyhave been made. The Army of Reserve
ought not 'to be suspended in its recruiting; bu't it
ought to beimproved,, as forming, next'to the Regular
Army,- the most efficient part of our Troops. Another
branch of defence may. also come to.bc considered in
ethe Committee, in case it shall be appointed, to.
which , the Hon: Gentleman (Mr.'-Voic), has at-
. .
luded in his Speech, and which has been often men.
tiotied
in the course of discussions in this Elouse, dur-
ing this and thelast Session of PArlianient:: I Mean the
eretakort of ortifieations thosepoints of the (,done
try,twhielearentOS't ..ieposed route Enetny, Most. like-
ly to retard his.progiesS,. or 'vulnerable ite:any point:
-of viesij.. No expedient :can be better caienlated to
save your nieu, .to SAI:, your time,. to .save your
troops, and ro save' your triUney, than this plan of
ereding.Forts- in the most proper: places.. In this
respettoalso,-theae Gentlernen•(Ministers) have been
dePlorablyedeficient. But, Sir, it is needless to
take a retrospettive vie.v of, What might have been
done, with proper management.—lt is not neces-•
sary, nor even of A vantages to consider what Mi.
sisters might have 'done in dine of Peace, consider;
ing the kow.vledge Which they possessed, and so
carefully kept tie themselves; respecting' the.bostile
dispositions of our Enemies;
.enough will remain
for. the Comaiittet, to esoo,i/ler,.,from All that. has
paised since the Declaration of War respe6ting
tither suljeAs, and as far .as regards the state of imrs
.NavalDefence('and to that toe, I mean, on another'
occasion, . to -adseitt and in spite or the
magnificent catalogue ed ,!sips, notwkthatanding the,
splendid descriptidns of vessel's, I may; perhaps esta,
bit ti fads, stifile tunehence, at which. the House
will not, be a l irle astoriished); enough, I say, will.
retnain from the plansoelopted by Minishers subse-.
queot to the Declaration of War, for She Commit-.
tee to take into serious consideration, and -apply
the remedy. But as to tliat .point, 'of the Right
Hon. Gentleman's ( Also IsotoN) Speech, Which
went tteObjed to the Moriois. because the condition
of the Navy is not included in it, I must say,
that it was stiggested, and Might have been readi-.
,lv eslecti for .gr:stited, 'that the state of our Naval.
Defence would form, a'matrer; and an important mat-
to of. discussion,;, ilbtit the Elon. Gentleman,
(Mr, Foi4).had not' dwelt at, so much length on that
particular part of the subjed, for this plain and ob-
i vitals season,- which he himself' had suggested;, that
he would.. not enter upon die dismission of, that
. point, but lett it to others,- who,''as' he knew, bad
turned their attention to it more than be hastbeep
able. to do : to such. he'had left it ti introduce-lhat
subjeft into ,discussion and' propose it to the con_
,sideration of the Committee.—Now, Sir, as to the
next objedion,..-which is to the general form of the
Motion, and here we are told what we haVesbeen
told before—we are, as usual, amused with a grand
arid magnificent account of the total number of our
Forces. This, hoWever, often as it may be re-'
peased,- is a topic to which I a-lways listen with pe-
culiar satisfaditin ; and I, as
swell as many others
in this House, have the strongest reasons to rejoice
:at as a proof of the. ardour 40a -zeal. of the
Country its own defence,' and a pleasing mono.
-ment of the exertions of Parliament'. The afforts
of theCountrr have, indeect, beengreat and nobles--
(a eiyof " 'fear." Hear!") but these are owing
to the Country itself,' to the es:ertions of this House,
to the zeal of all inetnbers,:in theetimintinity in the;
defence of evetf. -thing.'that they hold dear, and
1-ast of all, to any plan. of operation of His Ma-
jesty's 'Ministers (lard .ad reiterated • cr;es ?f
Hear I Hear I" frO7a emery part of the House.)
-No share is, to be' attributed to them in the forma-
' tionof any branch of our Defence; no proper plan
has- ever been devised by them, and eyed when, by
the ardent- patriotism of the Country, andtliy the..
dikussions in this House, plans Were, in sortieo
measure, fOrced upon them, they eale,ays took_
care to' mismanage- tlteM execution; and.
while they .av_oided doing any thing to sarriforward
the meaaures, they_ did much to impede them But
after all, Sir, I will'grant, that-if tne Force which the ,
patriotism of thepeople,' and :he exertions of this_
liotise, have forced upon Wih:,:stses, he efrsdual to
,
answer the purposessof the Defence of the .Courery,
We, -may rests
esatisfie:k (mit -aftogeseher, however,
with the. same, satisfa,ftion . as. if the GoveroMents
were adequate to iti'doty in these times of alarm
and danger) ; cce
,may rest sari,fied that the safety
of the Country is; one -way or another, in seine
mtasure, provided fore BUt here, Sir, I must state
what I mean, by providing for the safety of the
Country. I:do nor mean by this, Merely the pre-.
sesvation of the Kingdoils from being ultimately
conquered ; I; mean by it, :the put t leg the Csui-s
try in that State 'of Defence in whicht the Eoemy
may be subdued and driven beck with disgrace ieto
the lea,
,in the. least passible ,time,_ with the least,.
posSible. disturbance Sed confusion., with the, least
possible loss of men, with the least possibte'i?rogress.,
allowed them, with ',the least possible oppOrtuoity,
doing mischief e in short, with that
givenra
pid, total, and utter defeat, that may serve as
warning to them for agei to come to shit?: that fatal,
shore I.l"dcries of." heat .f bear!") an'ai set 'the'
question of v asitin at rest .for,',evet. Ids) not

no Map can with any' appearance of reason Afro,
dolt witlryoor Regulars,'your Ivltlitia, your. Army
:I of Reserve, and such'-a• multitude of Volunteers,
howe.er they May be distributed, the Enemy will
not be defeated at last. . They certainly will be de.
featede but the question is, how are they to be ae-
eateci, with the least possible injury to ourselves ?
Arid here, Sir, with regard to ;the question of the
3tri hoiiciti of our force, I must say, since the sub-
jeCt has, been started, that this forms a mater of
`much mote-weighty -consideration than these Gentle:.
'men (Mitaisters) seem to he aware of. The Right •
Hoti. Gentletnan. has ;said, that he has no obj7Ction.
`to 'the 'oroclueliota of Accounts statinoithe.number of
the,Troops,hhut he cannot consent t 5 tnent ion the
mode in-Which theY. are distributed.. But is it not
imp;t)rtant that the House should'be in possession of
Caacument'S respeding that distribution, fur the purr:
pose of 4.hoWing,how", and in what time they can be
assembled at_ any ghvert point, and in what coodi„ ,
thin- they May he. ? It is surely, a point of the most
material importance. ; hut it is-one to Which Ido
not tiitnk
:it prOper to direa. the attentith; of the •
House for tie present.. ' But every' one must feel
that the aCcoont f the numbers alone of the Troops.
is
.not ; in faet,. it is in• the manner of
their dittrilmitiog the 'Forces, that the cod of
the 'Mioisters lota been most 'deplorably tletreCtive ;
and it is such;a cleao mark of their inability.; and
inefficiency" that .:prevails. in the distribution. •
of that.
,Forroi;:that, potvvithaf,anding the exertions
of. ihe. People," notwithstandiog" all that has been
done, the Troops appear inadequate to the in-
tended purpose, of .securing the safety of the Court-.
try.. Bata, shall. not at 'present, occupy the
these of the flic;ise, at, atiya length,. with a retro.
speal.tv 'view- of what has‘heen the contlua of.Mi,
nistera_with reapea
.to.: the Defence othtlit Country.
I'dO,:howeVer, remember the- star of language held
by,the Right-Hon. Gent: (Mr. NouthtioToal) in the.
year lBo.zo on the debate upon the Areny Estimates.
I was" not indeed in the Houae, and I.cannOt quote •
here-any' thihg that I heard with respa..d" to' that !an-
gulge, but the. tendeocy. Of_itcoultianot be mistaken,
and might well be calleCted-froari theageneral tone of
Ministers at_ that time. ',He then certainly reasoned
cm .the Peace EStablialnent; as if that-Peace was to
haVe been permanent;, and I cannot: help being
son-teat/hat amazed at the language Which he now
Wolds'with regard to the opinhatis Of those who,
upoh'the .authbriti of h'is! assertion, that the Peace
was'likelY. to be perManent„ affirmed, that the Peace'
Establishment', ought to be considerably reduced.
h-lad Ilbeertin the ionic when he argued upon the
supposition of the Peace being permanent, I should ,
.liatte. certainly. beeri inclined to differ with him in
opinion op that .subjed ; but much more would
I have differed from -Mtn had I known What, by
his own ccinfessicirt,• he 'then knew of the., hostile
disposition 'of the Enemy—(a cry of " Hear.")
ThisJlowever, Sit,is certain, that it is impossible, in
tittle of War, suddenly to raise a considerable Force,
without keeping_itupon a large scale even in time of
Peace. :If our Force had been kept at.that point,
which; considering our circumstances at that time, it
ought to have been -kept, it would then 'have been
comparatively easy to have called out and recruited.
them when the War commenced. Ministers, by their
own confession, knew these circumstance; they had
'full proof of the hostile disposition of the Enemy,
who looked upoh our prosperity with jealousy, who.
treated our Wends with indignity, and ourselves
with insult--('A loud cry ,of Hear Hear !" )
What cOncluaion then -do I draw from this fat ?
My conclusion, Sir, is not so much against those
with not knowing the faas of the case; and hearing
Mi'nisiers set up the constant cry of Peace I Peace 1
'as against thOse men, who, with a full knowledge of
our toe, did not as upon that knowledge, and lay tt
foundatioo intime of Peace'for resisting danger whico
*every hour was threatened—(entasiastie applause,
'and loud cries of " fail upon our heads,,
by turning their attention to the, angmentation of
our*Regular Force, Militia, anti Volunteers. I have
narned these three, and confess that it was not with-
out design, as the most shameful neglect appears to
hive existed, asafar as respeds the whole of them.
'Why was not anew Militia ballotted for,•and com-
pletely formed, in time of Peace, and the competition
With the recruiting Of the Regulars thereby removed,
these 'Gentlemen knew that the Peace was
.likely to he of such short duration ? What were we to ,
;look for from the appearances during the last Peace,
as 'they aare, now stated ? We might look with
'certainty to such a War as the preaent; from the..
hostile disposition of our Enemy, from the extent of
his coasts, from, the 'subjeaion in which lid'held so
large aportion. of the Continent, and from his own.
desperate, and enterptizing spirit; and (tam all these
the conclusion was obvious to the most common
,capacity, that BONAPARTE Weald threaten Intasion,o
that he would attempt it on the same extended scale
that he now does in ,frtaaand.that he would embark.,
in the attempt a .prodigious.numbet of troops, so
.that if a third or one-half of them should perish be.:
:fore they landed, he might expect to make some im.,
pressioriWith the rest.
.Whyothen, he would again
ask, were not the Militia embodied, and formed 50...-
as to meet this formidable Invasion, in case the
Enemy should have cffeeted a landing at ter
the Militia, the proper mode he should have thought
would have beets, to have encouraged the Volunteers
that were formed doting the Jag Watr, to-have still.
continuea embodied; an:cl. too pay'attention to their
discipline., Circular Letters Were indeed written by.
dovernment to,thia effaa, during tLe. Peace, but .i!1
a atileso cold ant iodiffetent, that it was, urn'. e rsaily
believed that it was the intention of Ministers to have;
abandoned that apecies of aod accordingly the
'letters'ope.rated.as a disCouragetnent. But' this is not
'all; I should have thought, that from .the itekoow..
letigel uncertainty of the perrnataence of the last.
Peach:, it would have been proper to have laid a loon_.
dation for the increase orthe Army. I.myself cock.
occasion to sugge.t something .of this sort, though.
nut .altogether. aware of, the unfaitourable aspeft,
of affairs and I :should, have thooglit that,
with proper management, means might have been
fhund to have kept the Army in such a, state dUring
the Peace,, thatao or 60,0d0 might have been add_
ed ro it in the space ofpoe month from the commence.-
, ment of the War. I had it in nay intention to haite
proposed something to, this effeCt to the House, sands
perhaps I have' o apologize to them fo.haigg suffer."
cal any considetatiohs to,pre_vent .meafreadfulfilling.