Star.
London, England, 1815-03-01 00:00:00

ietaciations which they ha ti evetiteason to hope",
to believe would shortly take placet He admitted
he cone of the Militia having been called nut, bur
I,e maintained that circumstances had jastitied its be.
411.1 kept up. The principle on which Ministers, had
.cted in this measure had been recognized by.Parlia; .
.oent in the distinction made between the old Militia
aul the Local Militia, in determining with respect to
,he litter after what period it shonld-be.disembodieti.
hl e Regular Militia had always been intended to be
,m to the discretion of Ministers, on their responsibi-
•dt. sahject to the controul of Parliament. Ho de.
that this force so kept up with the consent of
'arliameot was at all to be compared to a standing
.onv, and repelled the assertions made by the Hon.
Learned Gentleman as to the injury which the
Ailitia itself must sustain from the course pursued
gy Ministers on this occasion. As to the evils coal.
;Lined of with respect to the personal feelings of the
:njivtditals in the Militia, who wire kept iiom their
~naves, compulsorily made w serve, and subjected to
de lash (to use the words of an Hon. Baronet)..,
ir S. ROMILLY said he had not used such words.
Mr. BATHURST bad uttered them as the words
If an Honourable Baronet.—This was the picture
Jrawn of persons subjected to military discipline. In
ti,e Militia, however, it would be found that not more
• :tan one in ten served for himself ; the rest were sub.
.titates, serving from choice. He did not mean to
.indervalue the sacrifices made by these persons, but
asserted them to be necessary for the general good of
the country. They might think their case hard when
hey saw other corps disembodied, but this was but a
Anparative, and not an absolute hardship. They
night think it unlucky that their regiments were not
itnong those who were disbanded; but while a partial
!isembodying of the Militia ivas not unlawful, 'this
-ould not be prevented. The Right Hon. Gentle:
114 a briefly recapitulated his objections to the prin-
. iple or the motion, anlasierted, that what had been
dune by Ministers in the present instance had alreedy
-eceived not merely the tacit, but the positive appro;
Nation Parliament. • •

Mr. ABE kc RUM BY had conceived. till he heard
Weir Hon. Gentleman who had just sat cl:wn,
•i:at the question the House had to consider thie
..ight was, whether any reason could be . given for
;repinz up the Militia ? Parliament had determined
:utter what circumstances it should be called
a:it, but as they could not determine when that cause
ease, no time for disembodying it had been
It was now for the House to consider if any
ii those causts now existed, and if in their absence
..•Iluisters could justify keeping it embodied.? The
.tight Mon. Gentleman bad at one time seemed des-
postd to rest his arguments on the American war.
Oi.l he mean to say that an invasion had been` to be
..ppreliended from America ? This country had for.
:aerly been at war for several years with America
:Acre the Minister thought of calling out the Militia.
T.t was not called out in the former American war
till France took a part in it. Now, however, .the
gieat evil against which it was desiguei fo protect
-le country was treated as a bugbear, and the people
were juggled out of the sums rite& siary to support it
ashen no occasion for it was shewn to exist. The
'Right Hon. Gentleman had found that the Ameri-
can war was not enough for his argument, and he
ten Ores the true.reasons for its being kept up—the
:irce,3ity of supplying itb..the .11.1ilitia the piece of
the regular troops. nGsv employed .in. Models. .The
Ight Hon. Gentleman considered Parliament to
lave sanctioned this measure because they had voted
,:ertain sums on account, which were called for by the
Nolile Lord (Lord Palmerston) before Chrtstmes,
cud which were stated to be but a small part of those
:ccessai y to meet the military expenditure of the
?ear. To press this as a proof that the measure had
been considered and a perovrd of by Parliament, WAS
-ininstifiahle. The Right Hon. Gentleman had said,
'he militia being kept embodied had not been felt as
a hardship, to the extent supposed, as not more than
nl.l man in ten served compulsorily. *Thic statement
alight be Correct, as to. the number of petsoes serving.
'or themselves, 'compared with those of substitutes ;
'iut Le could state, no :perfectly good authority, that
°heir not being, disembficlied was a grievance which
was deeply felt mini complained of.
Mr. BATHUR wr explained.
• Mr F. DOUGLAS said, if it was intended the
!Ailitra should not be kept tip when there was no
!anger of invasion, it ought to have been disem
hcdied long ago. He considered the preamble to the
Act bite the preamble to other Acts, the pro 7
:itions ..f which held good though the circumstances
illeded to in the preamble no longer existed.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said, that on
'his subject his opinion wastonfirmed by all that he
)ad heard from distinguished persons elsewhere. He
:sad consulted many or his friends on this subject,
lad had foLnd none that had dilated from h'm in
'heir opinions. His Honourable and Learned Frier.d
(the Sulieitor.General), and himself had been re.
Kesented as giving an opinion in. favour of, the
`:rmn, and therefore, not to be tleircirJed on. But
Ataely it could not be.supposed that they would give
411 t.i.in: .a to the Secretary of State, advising the
f3ovetaraent to keep the Mili is embodied it they
;tad 11.;t thought such a measure perfectly legal. It
'ad been stated that their opinion had been given,
that minister, might call out the Militia, and keep ie
.mbudied according to their own caprice. Now, the
14ct was, that they bad more than once stated, in
htt opinion, that it must be done under the revert-
ibility of Ministers. A man serving in the Militia,
mating the argument Of the Honourable and Learned
',lover might say, ia why is not my regiment disem-
`4o(lied, as well as the others ?" But then the Ho-
leurable and Learned Gentleman would tell the
Ailitianten, that it was not legal for Ministers to
them embodied ; but it was quite illegal in them
f) do any thing to release themselves from service.
Ali; was the argunwnt. of the Honourable and
Le.trned Gentleman, but it had not altered his opinion.
81r A. PIGOTT hoped, that if the Act of Par-
'went were not sufficiently plain, care would be taken
(; make it so. He had never found in any law-book
.liat he was, when consulting the sense of an Act of
,b4rliament, to ask or consider what had been the
!,;-actice of Ministers ; and jibe did, he would and' it
as to laugh ar an Act of Parliament. When the
Militia was called out, in 17W-1, it WAS only for the
ricks of some dirty boys at Dundee. tut in the
•iloclamation it w is stated, that acts of riot and in-
.:election h.d broken out in the kingdom, and the
jaw was stated by his Majesty, in his Speech at the