The Sun.
London, England, 1804-04-11 00:00:00

mosr vuinerabl,

.he Bi

e part of t. ritish Empire at the
present moment, and therefore he did not understand
the policy of a measure which took away such a num-
ber of troops that were at present so- well cal.
culated for its defence, withoUt making an adequate
provision for.. the deficiency which this measure
would occasion. He did not think the Supply
could be adequately made out of the Army of Re-
serve, for._the Irish Militia were as..good, or very
nearly so, as any of His Majesty's Regular Troops.'
He should, flowerer, not objeEt to the measure, if
the supply-- of the deficiency was •to be- filled: up
from the English Militia. He professed himself to
be attached to his native soil in preference to any
other, and he could not therefore 'allow Ireland to
line this great foice in the hour of daoger. If the
Invasion of Ireland Was out of the question, he
should' be one of the first to oftr his services at.the
head of his Regiment to come to England, but he
would not agree to it,under thepresent-cOnditioo of
things, nor could he forget the- Old Proverb; of
" Christen your own Child first."
Mr. WINDHAM entered much at large into a
vindication of his conduCl on former 'occasions,
when he had assented, to the English Militia go-
ing to Ireland, &c. ; and insisted
,that the circum-
stances of the times then required a ' totally dif-
ferent policy from the present. He objeeted to
this measure, on the broad general grounds, that it
.was impolitic, on account of its changing the
,Con-
stitutional nature of the Militia, partaking of ai
breach of faith with them, by changing their con-
dition ; and he thought, calling it a voluntary ser-
vice, ,on the part of those who offered, was a mere
play upon words, for that in these cases the offer of
a, few was always, taken for theoffer of all. That
it put the Officers in an improper conditibn, by
making them canvass men whom they ought to
conitimnd, and lost the power of commanding with
requisite energy for a Military Force. That the
• men carried with them the idea, that if they were
once to deliberate they might 'always deliberate,
and think how long they,should continue, as well
as whether they should offer to extend their ser-
vices, ' That this waS' Most injurious to discipline
that men might change their minds upon these sub.
j'etis as circumstances changed ; that the offer of a
Volunteer Service, finless taken diredly, might be
good for nothing, for that in some cases it. would
not keep any longer than mackarel, &c, After Ois.:
cussing a variety of topics with his usual talent,
.he
concluded in opposing the Motion.
Lord C ASTLERE AGH entered at large into. h
defence of the Bill, which he charaCtetised as a
_measure of true policy for this Country at the re.
sent crisis. '

Mr. 0 KFNI'ILLE, answered all the arguments
of the Noble Lord, and made a very able speech
against the' Bill, adopted the arguments of Mr.
Windham, and, added many forcible arguments of
his own:
Coloyel HUTCHINSON explained.

, Lord De BLAQUIERI supported the present
measure, which. he considered to be a questiOn only,
. whether His Majesty should be empowered to avail
himself of the loyalty of his Irish suhjeas, or whe.
ther they should he 'permitted to serve the Empire
agreeably to their zeal and energy ?
The question was at last put ; after which the
House divided on the question, that the SPEAKER
do leave the Chair, Ayes 14—Noes 54,.
The House: being resumed, the Reptirt was or.
dered to be received on Thursday next,
Mr.'ALEXANDER brianght up the,Report of the
Committee On the Irish Militia Augmentation.—
The Resolution was read, agreed to, and made an
instruction to the Committee on the Bill, on the
motion Mr. CORRY.
Adjourned. at Eleven o'Clock.