Star.
London, England, 1820-06-22 00:00:00

I,

abeyance, add left norertnpent to pursue the strong-
est measures \with ;That was in effect an irresponsible
authority. rietlid not then mean to take up the
time of tfieHouseNvith the details of this impotimnt4
question. Ministers had professed that they hall
made every possible endeavour tor ecoaemiael but
the present proceeding was no argument in their ,
favOur. The expenie upder which the country was
.
now placed; in order' to. support an extensive mili-
tary, force, was enormous. It was little under ten
millions, as every mint, on ft average, stood the
nation in rather more than £lOO a-year. The. Noble
Lord then animadverted upon the system of build-
ing barracks throughout the country, which, he said,
was calculated more than anything else, to separate
and distinguish the soldier from the citizen, and he
denied that any necessity existed for acting upon
that system to the extent to which it had lately been
carried. In the third year of peace it was pushed
far, and it was said that circumstances justified it ;
and'now, in the sixth year of peace, there were nearly
one hundred barracks throughout England, so that
our free State gad the appearance of being garri•
Boned with troops, whose duty it was to reduce it,
like a hostile country, to absolute subjection. Such
he could not believe to be the intention, but such was

the aspect which it wore. He knew it was urged by
Government, • that the greater number of these
barracks were constructed, because it was impossible
to resist the applications which had been made by
Magistrates and others from various parts of the
country, stating the discOntent and alarm which pre-
vailed, and the necessity which the loyal and peace-
able were put under of
.reorriTing protection. But
he had himself some experience of the manner in
which such applications had irispn, and he would
sot hesitate to say, that in many instances it would
be highly ludicrous, as well is" improper, for Go-
vernment to comply with them. There were places,'
for instance, where, if a man said that Grampound,
or a place similarly circumstanced, was a rotten
borough, and -ought to be disfranchised, the M 2.4
gistrates would immediately set him dowel as.
..a
sweeping Reformer and a Radical !—(Hrar, hear).—
lie would become subject to the obloquy and in.
c iarenience which these imputations brought upon
him ; and such a man, and all others in the same'
situation, would look upon the Magistrates as tyrants,
whose object it was to persecute and oppress. Such
feelings, on both sides, begot expressions of mutual
ill will, and the rise and diffusion of • alarm was the,
consequence. The Magistrates then, in conjunction
with those who assume to themselves the title of ex-
elusively loyal, took the occasion of making appli-
cation to Government fur the erection of a barrack,
as they were under an apprehension of a disturbance
of the public tranquillity. On such grounds, bar-
racks were applied for and erected. But if Ministers
• said that the discontents did really prevail in parts of
the country though not in others, it chewed that the
supposed disaffection of the people had been by no
means so general as was originally represented. For
his own part, he could not give his support to any
• Ministry who did not evince and act upon a disposi- '
Lion to economy and retrenchment He concluded by
moving, " That the number of 92,500 troops should
be diminished by the amount of 11,910, leaving a
reduced force of 80,590.'

• The Earl of LIVERPOOL opposed the motion ;
and in reply to the observations made by the Noble,
Eisi, upon the discontents said to have existed among
a part of the military, he stated, that the accounts
had been excessively exaggerated; that the facts
which had 'been reported to be the cause of that
dissatisfaction were wholly unfounded,; that it had
not gone to any extent, and had now wholly sub-
sided. Nor was it ascribable to the reasons which
the Noble Earl had stated, who would have acted
with more Frudence, had he abstained altogether
from the introduction of the subject. As to the aug-
mentation of the military force, he (Lord Liverpool)

felt a, much regret as any man in or out of that
House, in finding it to be his imperative ditty to
advise his Majesty to insert the words in the Speech
from the Throne, on the necessity of an increased
military establishment, which he would nut have
done as long as it was at all practicable to preserve
the peace and good order of the community, with-
out such additional means. He would not rely upon
the weight of his own opinion; but he would leave
it to every reflecting man, who knew at all the state
of the country, and he would leave it to the calm
judgment of the House, whether, under all the cir-
cumstance;, they did feel deeply impressed with the
conviction that the strengthening the means of Go-
•ernment, by the additional number of troops, was
not a measure necessary and quite indispensable?—
(Wear, hear).—As long as he had the honour of a
share in his Majesty's Councils, be would not allow
the reflections or observations of the Nosle Earl, or
any other person, to prevent him from advising the
adoption of such measures as were absolutely re•
quired for the protection of the loyal and peaceable
part of the population.
The motion was then negatived without a divisiois,
and the Bill was read a third time and passed. The
House then adjourned. •