The other orders of the day were difpofed of, and the Houle adjourned till Monday. HOUSE OF LORDS. MONDAY, MARCH 19. Counsel were heard in continuation relative to the Scotch appeal, Fleming v. Abercromby: the further hearing of the cafe was adjourned till Wednesday. The various bills before the House were forwarded in their refpective stages. Among thefe, the Irish revenue, the Irish malt duty, the Irish countervailing duties, and the hides and tallow importation bills were severally read a fecond time. Some private business was then disposed of, after which their Lordships adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS. MONDAY, MARCH 19. The bill for increafing the rate of fubfiftence to innkeepers and others, on quartering foldiers, was read a firft time, and ordered to be read a second time the next day. The Exchequer bills bill was ordered to be read a third time the next day, if then engroffed. The neutral fhips bill was read a third time and paffed. The fugar warehouse bill, and the expiring laws bill, were read a fecond time, and ordered to be committed to a Committee of the whole House the next day. The Irish militia families provifion bill was read a fecond time, and ordered to be committed to a Committee of the whole Houfe on Thurfday next. Mr. Gregor, after a few obfervations on the importance of the fubject, and the neceffity of the Houfe and the public having more information upon it than they poffeffed at prefent, moved, That there be laid before the Houfe an account of the number of districts from which affelliments under the' property tax have been returned to the office appropriated to receive the fame, ftating the total fum affeffed. Ordered. That there be alfo laid before the Houfe an account of the number of diftrists from which no fuch affeffiments have been returned into the faid office. Ordered. VOLUNTEER VOLUNTEER REGULATIONS BILL. Mr. Secretary Yorke moved the order of the day on the volunteer regulations bill, which was for taking the report of the bill into further confideration. He then obferved, that before the motion was put, he wished to take notice of a circumftance which came to his knowledge that day, and which he conceived to be of confiderable importance: he alluded to a clause in the bill, which refpected the time at which his Majefty fhall be empowered to fummon and call out the volunteers for actual fervice: namely, in cafe of invasion by the enemy. The words "united kingdom," had been adverted to, and it was fuppofed by fome that the clause was introduced into the bill improperly or unfairly. He hoped the Houfe would not think it was introduced with intention to deceive any body. When he introduced the bill, it was intended to be a bill for both Great Britain and Ireland, and he believed he stated it to be his opinion that the power of his Majefty to call out the volunteers extended to Ireland, as well as Great Britain. It was thus brought into the Houfe, and printed on the 10th of February, containing provifions applicable to both Great Britain and Ireland, and affecting both in its preamble; the claufe was then drawn up, as he fhould ftate to the House.-[Here he read the clause. ]—Inftead, however, of extending to Ireland, under the words "united kingdom," he had thought it better to introduce the word "realm," and he then thought the word realm was applicable both to Great Britain and Ireland, and therefore that word was fubftituted for the words "the united kingdom," and fo the bill was printed, and the bill thus printed contained a clause to this effect. When the bill was committed, he stated that the claufe which related to the volunteers of Ireland was withdrawn, and that the prefent volunteer law' of Ireland was to stand; and when the claufe was ftruck out, and the word "realm " was ftruck out, the bill, with the words "united kingdom" inferted in it, was printed fo long ago as the 2d of March. The bill had been fince twice in the Committee, and now was reprinted with this clause in it without any Gentleman taking notice of it. He stated this to justify himself. He was of opinion then, and he now retained that opinion, that it would be advifeable, in many points of view, that his Majefty fhould have the power as given to him at prefent by this claufe, that in cafe of invafion on the coaft of Ireland, and that his Majefty's regular force force fhould be detached to Ireland, his Majefty fhould have power to call out the volunteers. But as misapprehenfion had gone abroad upon that fubject, and as it was not underftood generally in that Houfe, that the bill fhould be fo, nor did the volunteers appear fo to understand the bill, he thought it better not to hazard any thing that might have the appearance of a violation of faith with the volunteers, for although they had ftill the power of withdrawing themselves if they thought that burden irk fome, yet he did not with to incur the hazard of appearing to violate faith with them: therefore when the House fhould come to the difcuffion of that particular claufe, he should propose to alter that part of it. He spoke now only to justify himfelf to thofe Members of the House who choose to judge liberally and candidly, and he would be contented with their judgment on the fubject. Some other hon. Gentlemen might object to it after this explanation; how fairly and candidly, the Houfe would confider. He wished however to fave unneceffary difcuffion, which might have arifen on this fubject, if he had not explained it.--He fhould move, "That this report be now taken into further confideration." General Tarleton obferved, that as this was an opportunity for entering at large on the subject of the bill now before the Houfe, he might do fo; but he fhould not trefpafs long upon the patience of the House: he fhould, however, fubmit to the Houfe the obfervations and opinions which had been the guide and rule of his conduct upon this occafion; in doing which he conceived that fome obloquy might be cast upon him; but he must nevertheless intreat the House and the country to reflect, that this is too momentous an occafion for trifling. There was no man exifting who ought not to confider it his highest honour to thed his laft drop of blood in his country's caufe at the prefent crifis, and this he fhould be proud to do but this was not all that a lover of his country ought to do, he ought alfo to bring forward, for its service, whatever his experience warranted him in fuggefting for that purpose. It had been faid, that we were now engaged in a war which the youngest man amongst us might not fee the end of; he therefore thought we fhould look to a permanent fyftem for carrying it on with advantage, and in that view he could not help confidering the volunteer fyftem as very defective for that purpose. When Minifters brought forward the bill for the better difciplining the militia corps, he stated the fituation of the army, and what it was neceflary for MiVOL. II. 1803-4. X nifters nifters to look to: that we were 15 millions of men in the prefence of 40 millions of the most ambitious men upon earth for military triumph, and that therefore our fafety required that our army fhould be placed in the beft poffible fituation. The anfwer he received then was, that our militia could defeat the best troops in France; an affertion which did not make much impreffion upon him. He was not going to attack the volunteers on the ground of their magnanimity, or their courage, or their zeal, or ardour, or their love of their country; neither was he going to infinuate a fufpicion of the valour or patriotism of any clafs of Englishmen: he knew they would all bravely fight for what they fo dearly loved and had long enjoyed, the beft conftitution upon earth. He knew they were equal in courage and in every other virtue, to any people upon the face of the globe. What they wanted was, a wife fyftem of policy, by which their ftrength fhould be directed. Whatever depended upon courage was never difficult to Englithmen; but it must not be forgotten that courage would not do without difcipline, leaft of all against fuch an army as we have to contend with. Did Roman valour triumph over British valour? No! But difcipline did, and fo did German difcipline in two inftances, much too memorable in our hiftory to need recital now. And was the science of war lefs complex, and owed lefs to discipline now, than at thofe early periods? He apprehended quite otherwise he believed that science was now quite as difficult, and depended as much on difcipline now as at any period fince the commencement of the world. At the commencement of the volunteer fyftem, he thought it good for the moment, because we wanted a fufficient army. As the matter came on upon the fudden, perhaps a better fyftem could not have been adopted for the purpose of meeting a fudden irruption or invation. But when the enemy did not choose to come at once, but might wait to a period which nobody could calculate, in order to come upon us at laft when we might least expect it, and poffibly be the leaft prepared; he thought it became the duty of his Majesty's Minifters, it was worthy of the wifdom of his Majefty's councils, to provide fuch an army as may be fit for a permanent fervice, fuch as they ought to do, because they could do it, as France had done, for the had at this hour the very largest army upon the face of the earth; and therefore, as the war was likely to be protracted, and the force of our enemy fo great, it was the bounden duty of his Majefty's Minifters to have looked to other fyftems than the volunteer system for permanent operation.-Here the gallant officer entered into a detail of the orders which, as General of a District, he isfued at Bristol, and its neighbourhood, for calling out the volunteer force, and of the very infubordinate manner in which his commands had been received and afterwards entirely difobeyed, notwithstanding his exhortations to them to do their duty like foldiers; of whole troops of horfe infifting on doing as they pleafed, without regard to the command of the General of the. Diftrict; of fome companies having declared a determination to fight it out on the parade rather than give up the point for which they contended; of his having written to his Majefty's Minifters upon this fubject, reprefenting to them the danger of this difobedience, to which he received an anfwer containing no more energy than to express a defire that the affair might be amicably arranged from all which, as well as from the fyftem by which this military difobedience was poffible, he forefa nothing but ruin, unless it was fpeedily altered. Having expatiated upon this topic at fome length, he then came to another, which was equally unfavourable to the volunteer fyftem, as one on which we were to look to permanent fervice, and which made him unfriendly to its continuance, although no one was more friendly to its inftitution as a fudden measure upon an emergency, and that was the interruption it gave to the regular fervice, both in the regiments of the line and the army of referve, as well as the militia, for neither of which could men be procured, all the young men being actually locked up, as it were, in the volunteer corps. He related accounts he had from fome Lord Lieutenants of counties, particularly that of Wilts, whom he spoke of very handfomely, as he did indeed of others; by thefe accounts it appeared that men were actually not to be had, the whole diftricts having been balloted over and over again, and there were no men fit to ferve in the army of referve or militia exifting, except thofe who were already in the volunteer corps. All this made him think that the exemptions allowed to the volunteers were much too extenfive, and that they had been the ruin of the fervice in a regular way. He was confident that this fyftem of the volunteer corps could not be permanent. He was forry to fay that fome meature of a compulfory nature must be adopted to complete the army of referve, as well as to increase the regular army, fo as to augment very confiderably the difpofable force of X 2 his |