The Sun.
London, England, 1804-03-17 00:00:00

VOLUNTEER BILL.

AMENDMUCTi'MADI.II4 THIS ACT,
Having itireatiy given an abstract of the arn'trui-
ments !bade by the. Conimit-tee on the Volunteer
Ad in the tiw instance, for the 'till-yr:nation nrour
Readers, We now notice .the clauses which• bay.e
been 3iTtle,3 on .its re-conitiittnents.

It is enacted, that all persons enrolled in Volunteer Corps
who shall have attended, it i7avalri twelve days: and if -In-.
fantry twenty-four clays, during the tit.si eight months, shall
be exempt •trorn attendance the remainder of the year
Psrscrns hying .served, and continued: to. serve, as effective
Mennbrs during the War, and ;Living been cl.raw.n,to, serve in
the Militia or other 'force during such continuance, shalt not
be liable to serve upon the Corps being disbanded, unle'ss
chosen bya new baot. •
,Certificates to be allowed to Volunteers quitting one Corps
an another,
and into are to be entitled to ..the.,ben4t of
• the number of days they have so served. -
The Lieutenant] of Counties, in appointing the number
of men to serve in the Militia and Army of Reserve, to have
regard to the number of VOlcinteers in their -respeCtiVe Eli-
•• visions. . •
if any Volunteer shall misconduit 'hinsel f on :the day of
muster, the Commanding Officer is required to disallow that
cPy as one of the exemption.
Officers are empowered to order any-member into custody,
who shall misconduCt himself while under arms.
Servants , enrolling themselves in Volunteer Corps, shall
not thereby vacate the contraas..entered into w.i,th. their mas-
ters: Apprentices are also permitted to enrol). themselves. •
Persons,claimingexeinptions in respect of horses futnished
to Yeomanry Corps,-shall be liable to furnish such horses
for the Public Service.
The Clause in the former Amt, for allowing the suni.of.
2s. 6d. ter .iiem to Drill-Serjeants, is-by a•sutisequent 'Clause
in this Act repealed.
Volunt,ars daMaging muskets delivered for their use, or
either selling or pawning the same, or arms, ac6outrei-nents,
cloa Sc. shall pay a fine of 4-cis: or indefatilt to be inf.:
prisoned one week.
• Clerks of General Meetings of Lieutenants are: to be remu-
nerated for their trouble, with such stints as. the Meeting
- shall think reasonable and proper. .
.-•

Lord SHEFFIELD on the NAVIGATION ACT.

Jr affords us great satisfafliOn to observe that
LOTti--Ski EVFt rLD has published: some elabotaft.oh.
servations on the imp licy of suspending the.,Navi.
gat ion /VI ;- we have for the last ...two years fre.
quently dit,±Ted the Public attention to the injury
the shipping interest of Great Britain has sustained
by it, and tine advantages .which-have resulted From
it to Foreigners ;-hot we now . hope that Parliament
Will investigate th-. motives which led to the pdop.
tion of such measures, so
.ruinous to the Maritime
interest
.of Britain. We observe his Lordship no.
tices,se.veral dodutnents which have been frequently
commented upon in this Paper since the ctrclusinn
of the last. War, and we strongly recommend his
Lordship's observations to ,the serious consideration
of the. Legislature. We are sorry to find that:the
bad effeCt• of suspending the Navigation Aft .is not
confined to the injury w.hich this country feels from
Ate amazing and rapid, increase•of American *on-
nage, and ..which is mv,emphatically,pointed out
by the Noble Lord, but that it also arose from the
greatest part of the. carryinvacie of Europe being
at, present in the haritis.:(it Foreigyerh, indeed the
Coal Trade from this Country to the
_continent of
Europe is now carried on entirely in .i7oreirr bottoms,
• and at this moment the si:lippinginterest of Great Bri-
tain experiences a most alarming depression. If an
investigation into the odual state' of the Nai.iga-
tion.of the Country had taken place when it was so
much desired by the Ship Owners,
,doring the dis-
cussion of that_ most_ impolitic: measure the. Tonnage
Duty Aa, much of the present distress occasioned
. by the late disastrous Peace,
.and, the continued sus_
pension of the Navigation Aft, andihe consequent
want of employment fur British Seamen, would have
been avoided. .

The statements of the-Ship Owners would have
been found correct, and not fallaCious or exaggerated,
as represented by the Partizans of Ministry, .nor
should we have had to regret• the emigration of so
Many brae S'eamen, who .are now eiiher in Ameri-
can employ, or in the service of
.the Enemy, and
whichLinust in a great measure have operated as the
cause of His Mojesty's Navy being so ill.manned
at this time. a•
The Ministry and the Admi-ralty were; it is be-
lieved, very early apprised of the first emigration •
of the Briiish Seamen to France,. and .no notice was
taken of that; intimakion. Indeed the most - satis_
faaoty evidence was offered to have been adduced
in support of that as well as of all the other fals
stated by the Shipping Interest, but the same Were
disregarded by those candid Ppliticians /who have
brought the Cotritry into- its present difficulties.
We trust Mr. PITT %yin not fail to fdllow tip his
mOrion respeing the Adroiralty;by instituting. an
inquiry into these faas-i indeed the Country de-
tmands it imperatively of him, that he will proceed
to Fitch inquiry, and not suff,.r the Public interest
to he any longerinjured by the continuance ofmea.
sures so ill calculated to
,promote its welfare or re-
cover that honour,ana high reason which until the
was hs distinguished chi]:
present Administration
tafteristic.

FORGERY ON THE BANK.