There was another species of defence, which had been almost entirely neglected, he meant fortifications. The great objection that he had to the volunteer system, was, that, by the confession of ministers themselves, it did not include onefourth of that class which principally formed the strength of a nation. He then argued, at great length, on the importance of having as large a regular army as possible, and of employing, as irregulars, the armed peasantry of the country, instead of a volunteer force.

After a considerable cry of question, question,

Mr. Windham rose, and said he was not surprised at the anxiety of ministers to get rid of the business. Perhaps, by their not attempting to answer what had fallen from his honourable friend, (colonel Crawford) they might mean to imply, that there was nothing new in the arguments that he had adduced. It might be true, that those arguments were not altogether new; but it was equally true, that they had never been refuted. As this was, perhaps, the last time that the subject would come before the house, he could not avoid taking the opportunity of protesting against the principle of it, as one which might lead to our utter ruin. He utterly denied, that the danger we had now to provide against, was merely of a temporary nature, and to be guarded against by temporary expedients. Ile considered it as a great and increasing danger, which could only be effectually averted by a permanent, well-organised system of military defence. The most important clause of this bill, the giving exemptions to the volunteers, cer

tainly added nothing to their mili tary improvement, and was only in tended as a means of continuing th volunteer system; but, while thi clause gave men to the volunteers it withdrew them from other ser vices. He felt convinced, that the country would have been in a greater state of security, if none of those volunteer bills had passed. He neither considered that the improvement of the volunteer system was the best measure for the present defence of the country, nor that the present bill was likely to increase the force of the volunteer establishment. Zeal was not a principle which could be altogether depended on. A permanent system must be founded on interest and fear; there must be inducements on the one side, and penalties on the other. He must still continue to think, that it was extremely dangerous to leave large bodies of armed men on foot, that were not subject to military law. The volunteers had already so far shewn their strength, as to gain a complete triumph over ministers, who appeared not to venture to stir a step without taking their opinions. The treasury bench appeared to think, that the best way of silencing a member, was to excite a popular clamour against him, but, that should never prevent him from delivering his opinions. The exemptions had already made the army of reserve stop 14,000 short of the number it was originally intended. The advantage of those exemptions was so great, when it was considered what classes of men the ballot usually fell on, that it was a power too great to lodge in the hands of the individuals, or committees, who managed the volunteer corps. The injustice

and hardship that were produced by those exemptions, was very great upon those who were not fortunate enough to enjoy them. He did not conceive, that, even if the whole volunteer force were to be dissolved the next day, that any very serious mischief would result from it. The same men would remain in the country, and the same zeal and ability to serve it, although it might be directed in another channel. He thought there was no example in history to justify the experiment of bringing the volunteers to fight against regular troops. The king dom was once conquered by a similar experiment under Harold. The Vendean peasants never did fight regular battles against the enemy, except in one or two instances, wherein they were completely defeated. They were obliged to let their towns and villages be burnt. He did not suppose that any species of irregular troops could ever pretend to engage in pitched battles with regulars; he thought, how ever, that a numerous and well-organised irregular army would be a powerful auxiliary to a large regular force. The volunteers of France, who fought at Jemappe, were raised on a footing totally different. He considered the entire system as a barren moor, from which it was idle to expect a good crop, and which it was ridiculous to resort to, when we had such an abundant field to till as the regular army. He, therefore, decidedly protested against the whole system.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer considered, that this strain of argument, from the right honourable gentleman who spoke last, was entirely inconsistent with his former sentiments and conduct. He now

found fault with the militia, and yet, when he was secretary at war, he carried it to a much higher pitch than it is at present. He now found fault with the volunteers, and yet it was under his administration that the volunteer system was introduced. He found fault with it now, as injuring the regular army, and yet it was a fact, that the regular army had increased faster since the commencement of the present war, than at any former period. Although the right honour. able gentleman had a poor opinion. of the efficacy of the volunteers, yet, in opposition to his mere assertion, there was the decided opinion of lord Moira, lord Cathcart, and general Simcoe. He considered the allusion, which the right hon. gentleman had made to the Vendeans, as particularly unfavourable to his own argument, as those troops bore the nearest possible resemblance, or rather wore the model of that force, he so much recommended, an armed peasantry. There was no experience, or no sound reasoning, to induce a preference of an armed peasantry to such a body as our volunteers. There had been already more recruits raised for the regular army, than were raised for the seven first years of the last war, under an administration that the right honourable gentleman so properly extolled. As to irregularities committed by volunteers, it was impossible that there should not be some where the body was so numerous; but, it must be recollected, that the period when dissatisfaction was at the highest, was, when a number of offers had been rejected. He thanked God, that we had now a numerous regular army, a numerous militia,

and

and 400,000 volunteers. These, combined, made one of the most powerful armies that had ever been raised for the defence of this, or any other country.

Mr. Fox said, that the right hor. gentleman (Mr. Addington) had conpletely misunderstood the argument of Mr. Windham. That gentleman had never asserted that the volunteers were raised merely by the induce ment of exemptions: he had contended, on the contrary, that we would have a sufficient number of volunteers without the exemption, and that they were therefore unre. cessary. As for the raw troops, which took the field in the begin ning of the war, between Fran e and Austria, they did not fight well: 20,000 of them ran away from 1500 Austrians, and then murdered their own general (Dillon). Their next ex. ploit was to make another of their generals (Biron) a prisoner. The same troops, however, after they had seen some service, fought very well. He did not recollect a single instance in history, where raw troops had been, in the first instance, suc cessfully opposed to regulars. The great reason which induced him to prefer an armed peasantry to the volunteers, was, that instead of 400,000, it would form a force consisting of two millions.

Sir James Pulteney said, that when the defence act was introduced, he was the first who strongly urged the advantages of an armed peasantry. He regretted that his advice was not followed at that time, but still it was necessary to make the most of the system we had got. Not withstanding the maxim,

"A little learning is a dangerous thing,"

might do very well in poetry, y in the common occurrences of lit every one would prefer a pers who knew something of his trad to one who was ignorant of its fir principles. He thought the volu teers might be extremely useful in desultory warfare, but did not co sider them as proper troops to I opposed to an enemy immediate upon his landing.

General Lottus approved of th idea of blending the volunteers int the regular army, and placing the under the command of general off cers. He was glad to find that go vernment had resolved, in case c invasion, to drive the cattle from th sea coasts. He remembered, whe he served under lord Howe, in Ame rica, this was a policy which wa uniformly followed by the Ameri cans, and it prevented his majesty': army from penetrating to any dis tance into that country.

Mr. C. Wynne took notice of the small proportion of the volunteers who knew any thing of ball firing.

The bill was then past through the commons, and ordered to the lords; and was discussed in that house, for the first time, on the 27th of March: upon the question for the second reading,

Lord Hawkesbury, in introducing the bill, stated the principle upon which the volunteer system was founded, and the ancient and undoubted prerogative of the crown to call out all the liege subjects of the realm, in case of invasion, or any strong appearance thereof.It was from that prerogative of the crown whence the defence act sprung, and it was from the defence act that the present volunteer system originated. He agreed perfectly with what had fallen from lord

Gren

Grenville, on a former night namely, that the volunteers ought only to be employed as an auxiliary or subsidiary force, assisting the regular army. He was now proud to say, that there was in the united kingdom an army of troops of the line and militia amounting to 180,000 men, which was more by 40,000 than we had in 1801, when we had many foreign colonies to garrison. In addition to which, he should state, distinctly, that the effective volunteer force, in Great Britain only, amounted to 330,000 men, as appeared by the returns of the inspecting officers. He should allow, that if the object of the enemy were the final subjugation of the kingdom, an armed peasantry might be the most effectual means of frustrating the attempt; but, as he could never suppose the enemy could expect to keep permanent footing in the country, and that their plan of invasion would have for its object, the doing the greatest possible quantity of mischief, in the shortest time, he thought an invasion of such a description could be better resisted by volunteers having some discipline, than by an armed peasantry that had none. He trusted that the principle of the bill would be generally approved of, whatever objections might be found to particular clauses. Many persons thought the volunteer system had within itself the principles of its own dissolution. He felt too much confidence in the spirit of the country to suppose so; but should it turn out to be the case, it would become the duty of ministers to advise his majesty to recur to the provisions of the general defence act.

Lord Caernarvon disapproved of the principle of this bill, as he did

of that of the defence act; the lat ter was hurried through the house in two days, and set out with asserting that his majesty possessed a prerogative of placing all his liege subjects in the ranks of the army, whenever the country was in a critical situation. By that law, the prince of Wales, if he did not happen to be a colonel of a regiment, might be compelled to serve as a private soldier, and would be liable to the punishment of the halbards, for any military offence. The prerogative that was thus stated, was most monstrous and unconstitutional. He thought the present bill quite as absurd, although less offensive, he should therefore oppose it.

Lord Ellenborough insisted that the crown did possess that prerogative from the earliest times: he produced a copy of the commission of array passed in the reign of Henry the fourth, which expressly recognized that prerogative, and which sir Edward Coke declared to be the law of the land in his time; and it had certainly never been altered since, either directly or by implication. He saw nothing monstrous in the prerogative of requiring the assistance of every man in cases of great emergency. This was a prerogative which, according to Vattel, was inherent in those who exercised the powers of the executive government in every state.

Lord King denied that the king ever did or could possess the prerogative that was asserted. It was a monstrous doctrine, worthy of the most jacobine period of the French revolution. He disapproved of the bill, and of the volunteer system. The regular army and the army of reserve were in opposition to each

other,

The Bishop of Landaff thought the volunteer system noble in its principle; and he trusted it would be successful in its effects. The volunteer army was composed of all ranks, and contained whatever was respectable in society. The question was not now upon the principle, for that had been adopted. It was upon a bill which proposed for its object the improvement of the volunteer system. He thought, in times like the present, the government had not only a right to call upon the services of every man, but that every coach or saddle horse in the kingdom should be put in requisition, if necessary. He declared that, for his part, he should prefer living on oaten bread and water, to enjoying every luxury which affluence could purchase in a subjugated country, that had the misfortune to groan under French domi

nation.

Lord Darnley thought it improper to apply the word system to such a mass of incongruous regulations as ministers had made respecting the volunteers. He saw nothing in them but the incapacity and inconsistency of those who framed them.

Lord Fife supported the bill, and spoke highly of the efficiency of the volunteers.

Lord Romney thought that if the day of trial should come, the volun. teers would be found equal to encounter the troops of France; they ought most certainly to be superior to the forced conscripts in the French army. He wished to see officers that had seen service mix more a mong them. General Harris (who commanded at the taking of Seringapatam) had not thought it beneath

Lord Grenville professed to feel as high a respect as any man for the courage and zeal of the volunteers. In the present circumstances of the country, no one could entertain the idea of disbanding 400,000 voluntary defenders of the country, or deny that they might render important service. When it was, however, considered that those troops which threatened to invade us were also of undisputed courage, and had gained great military experience during twelve campaigus that they had fought against the best disciplined troops in Europe: he thought it was evident that ministers had been shamefully negligent, in not providing a sufficient force of that description which was proper for combating such troops. He considered that the regular army had been sacrificed for establishments of less importance, and every measure which had been taken for increasing it was thwarted and counteracted, by the effect of the exemptions given to the volunteers. When the noble secretary (lord Hawksbury) talked of the number of our army, he should have distinguished what portion of it was militia. As to the army of reserve, it could be only considered a depót for recruits at present; and it was hardly fair to reckon those that have been so recently balloted for that corps, as regular troops. He could not agree with a learned lord (lord Ellenborough), that the crown had the prerogative of ordering the subjects of the realm on military duty, without the sanction of parliament.— This formed the most tyrannical feature of the French government,

and