Star.
London, England, 1804-06-19 00:00:00

Me Gentkitten bitrifelf had tented to the pr, pot.
titan, and therefore was incontiflent, when he desired
the ROA to unaty what it had &rationed t il,e
litia hail been railed yo,orio, beret& it wa. nece&ry
to here an addition of tkoopoo men to the army. 1 he
balance was of conife in favour of the connitinirma
force he ihnishi like therefore to know the re.fou
why the Militia was now to he reduced ; it was laid,
this was neceffary, becaufe we ought totave a farce
under reviler officers. He was daunt:. of having a
lerge force ender regular oh,cers, that is, officers who
had ferved abroad, cud had had experience ; but he
%Oiled to know 'these officers of that defeription were
to be found. Officers who had not been on foreign
teraice might be called regular officers, but eoul I
they hare had the experience neeeilary The 'milt
point in which they could be called regular officers
would, be, that thew would I egailary receive their pay
during the war, and regularly call upon Government
at the coheluflon of the war for their half-pay. OK,
cers of the Militia put Government to no fuch ea.
pence. and therefore the bc.lt of the two. Could a
man heave to which he would give the preference
There were advantages attached to one which did
net belong to the other. He maintained, that the
reduttion of the Militia to the level prnpnfed would
antwer no good purpofe to the country, but was preg-
nant with mifchief. It profeffed to rails more mta
lo a fltorter rime than could be procured by recruit-
ing. 'He would examine hoW far this was predicable.
It was to be obferved, that the Army of Referve Bill
'had not been able to raife more than so,ooo men, and
At was thodgbt neeeffary to have recourfe to a monger
mealetre, but this was not only a felt vigorous Me -
ftere, but was more mirchievons. The Army of Re-
Arve proporedto.reire men bar ballot. This was a
lode condemned for itst.vertty. It was, however,
the molt effeaual one for an addition so the ballot,
if the quotas were not railed. Penalties were de-
nounced againft the pariftles for the deficiency. As
it appeared that the Armj of Referve hid all the effi-
cacy of this I3W, and fornething more, was it to be
fuppoled that this Bill, which was weaker in its ope-
ration, could area what the Army of Referve Aft
had failed in doing ? He was unacquainted with ml:
litary affairs, but he could early conceive, that if
an officer was ordered to take • pod with a car
tab number of men, and was repotted, it
not likely be fhould fumed, if he renewed the a
tack with a number lets than that which had bee
inefficient. He obkrved, that the Army of Merest
had never been carried into effect with refpea to theft
tines. In Surrey the fines were so,oool. for not pro-
viding* quota, but the peril officers bad never
been called upon to pay them. He was perruaded
that after the public bad been taxed and berated by
the prefent Bill till this time twelvemonth, either the
Hours or the %tarter Seffions would• be called upon
to afford relict. He obferved, that the Church• ,
wardens and Overfeers were to be converted into Re- I
cruiting Serjeants, but be had little expeaationfrone I
their exertions or influence. Gentlemen of large for-
tunes, who a Mimed a command, might expea that
perfons who were attached to them would follow
them ; but was this the cafe with regard to thtrat.
wardens and overrun ? They profiled no influence ;
people would never at their iallance cadent to go '
into danger, and leave behind thofe who had tempt.
ed them. Churchwardens and overfeers were there-
fore merely decoy docks. The only influence thee(
would poffefs would be by a relaxation of the duties
of their offices. Undoubtedly, if inflanees of crimi-
nal relaxation took place. they would be liabk to be
ponifhed ; but it was the duty of the Hoeft to plaoe
officers in situations in which they would be preeludeki
the opportunity of doing wrong. Such a mode of
recruiting the army be thought highly reprehei
There was no one part of the Bill which was not
hle to obleaions. He had attentively perufed tbtz
Bill, and found but one claufe which he approved of ;
that was, the claufs by which Parliament was inr.
powered to repeal the Bill in the coorfe of the preterit
feflion. It was a meafure which had been called a
boon to the country. Sure he was it was a boon
which, the moment the country had received ir,
would call on the Houk to take back again. He
concluded by laying, that if the object of the oppoti•
tion was againft his Majefty's Knitters, the belt way
they could attain it would be to (offer the Bill to pa l•,
for no Miniller who had been the mean: of patEn
fuch a law, could long expel to retain hi, fituatioo.
Sir RC 111:1( I' PELLA:. argued, that his Majetly'
prefent Milliner; had, in time of peril, raved th
country ; and as the Right Honourable Gentleman
at the head of the Adminiftration was acknowledged
to peals a greater portion of political knowledge than
any one elk, (Ns, Ao, exrlaiw,d many of ibe Moak-. r).
it was but right to give him credit for the efficieue tar
of the rncafure he had now introduced. He cenfurr

thole who hied fpoke upon the ruble& for the contra-
diitory opinions they had exprefed, and obferved,
that it was imptillible to tike men from civil employ-
ments and make ufeful foldiers of them, unlefs their
duty was permanent. He however deprecated the
mifchiefs which might afire in * commercial country
like this, from taking too many men from the loom
and the plough,. With regard to the stealers before
the Hoofs, he thought it adapted to the prefent cit.
cumftances of the country.
Lord TEMPLE (aid, be had been charged with
upholding the plan of *the Right Honourable Gen-
tleman before lie came into office. He denied the.,4
charge. Fiat, he recolleiled that the plan was dif-
ferent train the ',Went one ; and, fecondly, that he
had not praifed it. If ever he felt regret in difchaig
ing his dusty, it was when he oppored a meafore,
fepported by the great talents of that Right Himont -
able Gentleman. In the late Administration, the
great complaint was the want of preparation to meet
the danger !chick we were told citified. The Hours
had been told, day after day, that it ought to watch
days, hours, and minutes, until foam plan had been
adopted to ',dine the conntry from its danger.—
Days, hours, and minutes had gone by, and the fitu-
ation of the country remained the fame as it was.—
He obferited: that the Right Honourable Gentleman
had brought forward this plan in concurrence with
thole under whom he had faid the country could not
profper, but whom he had confented to join. He in-
veighed againfi the meafure, which he defcribed as
nugatory, oppredive, and unconftitutional. .His
Lordfhip compared the conveniences and difadvan-
tages of thefyltein o 1 ballot with the prefent plan,
expreffing in the aloft deci.:ed terms his preference
t 4 the lotion. lie coitidesed di.: Bill AS imputigiv
an unjust land tax, and defined the Houle not to I,Ac