The Statesman.
London, England, 1813-11-24 00:00:00

yeomen cavalry, and the yeomanry of Iret..•nd
(which was in the highest degree of effiZifitry)
amounting altogether to 300,000 men. lle believed
that the quality of those troops would not be thought
lightly of by any one who considered hew soon the
Silesian battalions, raised in the course of this cam-
paign, became effective soldiers in the field. With
ouch an arms for. its defence, the country might
tip perfectly
.at rest from any apprehension of
danger. There were, however, other descriptions
of service Whiliii%Ust be provided for, aqd to
which a great part of oar military force was not at
present applicable. In the first place, we had'a pro-
digious mass.of French prisoners in the country,
which required to time guarded. The -number of
French prisoners in the different states now et war
with France was so great, that if to those that are
now in this country were added, the French prisoners
in Russia and Austria, and those men that were now
abut up in besieged towns, he believed that the. num-
her of Freuch prisoners ofswar and soldiers inbskieged
towns was greater than that of any army whidh any
station had ever possessed. Besides the troopsteces.
eery to guard the French prisoners, others' were
wanting to do duty at our different arsenals, and file!
our internal police and security. With a view, there-
fore, to provide for those set ices, circomstincel
might arise which would make it advisable totallow
the local militia to eller their services to all extent
somewhat greater than they would be requltYd at
present. Care must, however, he taken, to 'depart
as little as possible from the spirit of the institution
of the local militia, and in no degree without the
fullest consent of both the officers and soldiers. At
the present time, when the most liberal offers were
daily making for an extension of services, the care of
Government must rather be to have something rest' ic-
'dire in the regulations, so as to prevent any incon-
yenieece from falling on the Local Militia, from the
readiness with which they might be expected to vo-
hmteer their services. At present they were restrict-
ed in time, es well as in distance. The time was re-
stricted to qti days, and the distance to their oWn
counties. As to the extension in point of time, he
did not wish to accept any further esten‘ion, than'
the time it might take to go to the places where their
services might be more useful than in their own

counties, and to return. lie thought that three weeks
might, perhaps, be as lone as would be advisable to
acc pt rheir services out of their own counties. At pre-
sent they were liable to be marched out of their
own county, in case of riots and tumults, which
were not new to be rnuch cprehended.----
With respect to the regular militia, he had nothing
further to call-upon them, except that as the inter-
change hetween England and Ireland was now subject
to some limitations, both as to the proportions amt.
the periods of rotation, he thought it woald be bet.
ter to allow the Crown, if necessary, to accept for
s-year the offers of interchange out of the rotation.
Fur those purposes, 'he should now move for leave
to bring in a Bill for the feather regulation of our
iii !a ry force. Before be sat down, however, he
wished to state some considerations which would, in
his opinion, give greater facility to the asseasureserow
in contemplation, without at all cleparting4rota the
principles of our existing institutions. In the first
place, he thought that the period of service is the
militia should not be entirely lost to the militiaman
on his volunteering into the line. At present, in the
line, service in the West Indies was considered in a
higher proportion than service of the same duration
In Europe. On the same principle, he thought that
a militiaman, who had been a good soldier for seven
or eight years, should. on his entrance into the line,
bare some advantages from his servtcn, above a com-
mon raw reere!t. He thought that his precedent ser-
vice in the militia should be.reckoned as onesr two
years in his claims to the advantages now given
.to
the soldiers of the line, after a certain length of ser-
vice. This would be grateful to the feeling's of the
millets, and would encourage them to volunteer.
There was a very valuable description of the militia
force, the Non-Commissioned Olficers, who appear-
ed to have been unaccountably overlooked. After a
service of twenty-five years, and when they bad no
other means of earning their bread, there was now
only a provision of three-penoe a-day for them, if
they were to retire; and many Colonels were thus
induced to retain men who were unfit for service.
This omission should be remedied. Tile surgeons of
the militia regiments were also so inadequately recom-
penced, that he was surprised that they found gentle-
men competent to the situation ; but it became the
liberality of Parliament to make adequate provision
for them. lie should also take that opportunity of
stating, that it appeared to Ministers to be advisable

to increase the 60th regiment (which was composed
. principally of foreigners), by adding to it three bat-
!alibi's.. After some further observations, he con-
cluded by moving for leave to bring in a Bill to ena.
ble his Majesty to accept of the voluntary services of
the Local Militia out of their own counties.— ' 1
Mr. WHITBREAD conceived that his Majesty's
Ministers were naturally desirous of having the means
of employing as. large a portion-of the military force of
the country as circumstances should require for the
prosecution a the war. He was certain that cir-
cuiuctances could never be more favourable than they
at present for employing a large force abroad.
There never exited on the records of history any
circumstances iu which a free people could feel them-
selves more desirous of using their utmost force for
the • pose of ping freedom to other nations.—
ver was slime when we could bet. •
;test part of our army on foreign
never was a time of greater inter.,
and security. lie hoped that the,
which it had pleased Providence in
tow upon-this country, and the em-
omanufacturers now found, would
their perfect tranquillity and pro-
entirely dissipate the ideas enter.
persons, that the local disorders and
took place some time ago in our
'ltricts, had any other causes 'but
lent and scarcity elf provisions.—
isity had subsided, the tumults
'hero could he but one foelipg in the
centre to its circumference, and
r utmost exertions should be used
of the deliverance of all nations.
war of government asinat guvern-
a war of the people every where,
it liberty ;tad iudependeace. If it

l.:. 1 prosecution $:.! the
'r, cutuctances could ri
. wt ‘r:-... at present for
Thero never estate
: circumstances in wt
1 eelves more desirom
I' ,
4 '' " the purpose of givi
l
ill There certainly nev
ter spare the great
service, as there in
; ° mat tranquillity an
abundant harvest v
its bounty t.) besto
ployment that them
not only insure th
sperity, but would
, • ° 4 Joined by some per
,
, t tumults which to
manufacturing dist
il t .want of employrne
I i Whpn the neces
also inibsitled. Th
I country,' from its
that was, that .out
la the lusty cause
It was not now a
'sent, bet it was a
la aepport of thsh
I,