part of this army might be considered as unconditionally disposable for active service; since the other descriptions of force might be employed to relieve it from those detached services, which, in general, occasioned so serious a deduction from the fighting men of an army. He conceived that the efficiency of the volunteers would qualify them, if necessary, not only to co-operate, in their just proportion, with the regular army, but to act in the line immediately opposed to the enemy. Of the force mentioned above, his lordship, perceiving no reason to conceal from the com ́mittee the true situation of Ireland, stated, that 120,000 men were at present provided for the defence of that country, the whole of which was armed; and means were resorted to for arming without delay a still greater proportion of volunteers. The whole force, therefore, in Great Britain, amounted to 495,000 men, of which number 120,000 volunteers still remained to be armed with muskets: but in order that a considerable number might be provisionally armed, nearly 80,000 pikes had been already issued from the ordnance.

Without entering into a minute detail of the several classes of ships, of which the navy was at present composed, his lordship supposed it would be deemed sufficient to state to the committee, that the number of ships of war amounted to 469; and that in aid of the regular navy, and for the purpose of defending the coast, an armed flotilla, consisting of 800 craft of all descriptions, was nearly completed. It was also the intention of government to augment this species of defensive force. Among the voluntary exertions to increase the naval defence of the country, lord Castle.

reagh felt it impossible not to distinguish the patriotic offers of the East India company, and of the corporation of the Trinity-house. Twenty armed ships had been furnished by the former, for the public service, and the latter had manned ten frigates for the defence of the Thames; which, with the other ample means already provided for this object, might be considered as rendering that important part of our frontier altogether impenetrable.

In noticing the exertions of the ordnance department, in the execution of the present armament, his lordship stated that, since the commencement of hostilities, there had been issued 312,000 muskets, 16,000 pistols, and 77,000 pikes. Such an amount of arms, however, had been reserved, as, in the event of a campaign, might be sufficient to supply the waste on service of so extensive an army, and measures had been taken completely to arm, at no distant period, the whole of the volunteers. The field train also, in Great Britain alone, was increased from 346 to 460 pieces of ordnance, completely appointed and brigaded under experienced officers. The horses attached to the same had been increased from 3300 to 5900, and the drivers from 1400 to 3000. The quantity of moveable ammunition with each gun had been nearly doubled. The made-up ammunition for small arms, both distributed and in store, had been increased in a still greater proportion. The general provision of stores, in all the other branches, was equally abundant. For the ser vice of Ireland, his lordship stated, that corresponding exertions had been made. He fully concurred with Mr. Pitt in opinion, that the apparent

apparent abandonment of invasion, or even the failure of any attempt on our coast, should never induce us to relax in our vigilance and our exertions. True wisdom left us no alternative, but to place the security of these realms on such a basis of internal strength, as should for ever lay the question of invasion at rest.

Mr. Fox said, that he very sincerely applauded the zealand patriotism of the volunteers, but he could never persuade himself to believe, that they were susceptible of any thing like the efficiency of a regular force. He asked whether it would be prudent to place the safety of the country under the protection of a body of men, who were neither subject to martial law, nor inured to military discipline? If the rumour of invasion (which he conceived was not so likely to be attempted, and, if, attempt ed, not so pracicable so pracicable as was generally imagined,) should subside, the whole of the regular army ought by no means to be employed on foreign expeditions, and the safety of the empire intrusted to the volunteers. For, if invasion, under such circumstances, were attempted, there would indeed be serious ground for apprehension and alarm. Mr. Fox entered into a variety of details, to show that the machinery of the volunteer system was every way defective; and that, whatever degree of improvement they might attain, they could never be qualified to act with the regular force of the country. He supported most of the arguments advanced by Mr. Windham; and, while he admitted that the volunteers might be employed with advantage to harass and annoy the enemy, he deprecated, with the right honourable gentleman, their introduction into the line. Repeating his

sentiments with respect to the expediency of establishing a responsible military council, to which parliament and the people might look for the whole conduct of the army department; he expressed the greatest personal respect for his royal highness the commander in chief, but was persuaded that he would by no means be pleased with the flattery, that he was himself equal to the arduous duties of this department. The responsibility should be clear and positive, and his high birth presented an obstacle to the responsibility attached to that situation. There was a delicacy, he remarked, in questioning the measures of a personage of his illustrious rank, and men were thus deterred from the duty of examination.

Mr. Fox asserted, that all the military arrangements, for the last summer, had been unsteady, va cillating, and capricious. The staff which was appointed gave considerable surprise to military men. In the appointment of generals to the command of districts, officers of the greatest experience, gallantry, and distinction,had been omitted. It was conceived that lord Cornwallis was not so old as to be overlooked, nor earl Moira so destitute of zeal, energy, and experience, as to be left unemployed. A general promotion, however, altered these arrangements. Lord Hutchinson, who had been employed at first, was put off the staff; and lord Moira most properly appointed to the chief command in Scotland. In justification of these fluctuating measures, it was said, that it was the king's prerogative to change his generals; but it should be remembered, that ministers were responsible for the capricious exercise of this prerogative. The country has a right to the employ

ment of the best talents and experience the army can supply; and the character of officers constitutes an essential part of the public strength. Mr. Fox alluded to the circumstances which occasioned the resignation of general Fox. He vindicated the conduct of his relation, and imputed much blame to ministers for their proceedings relative to the melancholy affair in Ireland of the 23d of July. On the situation of the heir apparent of the crown, he felt it his duty to say a few words. In the course of the last session, his royal highness had made a patriotic offer of his services to government*. He expressed his astonishment that nothing had since been done to sooth his mind, or to carry his liberal and honourable offer into effect. He might be told, that this too depended entirely upon the prerogative of the crown. This he did not question; but the public opinion, he asserted, was, on a subject of so much importance, entitled to respect; and the more, since it was a subject peculiarly grateful to the feelings of the prince of Wales, whose active services, in our present situation, would constitute a material part of the public defence.

The chancellor of the exchequer rose after Mr. Fox, and, in reply to the want of confidence in the volunteers, which the honourable gentleman had expressed, stated the opinion of lord Moira, commander in chief in Scotland, and of lord Cathcart, the present commander in chief in Ireland. These great military authorities were so highly satisfied with the steadiness and discipline of the volunteers of Edinburgh, and Dublin, that they gave

them an unconditional assurance that they would conduct them with confidence against the enemy. With respect to the project of a responsible military council, he said, that many respectable persons who wished for such an establishment, when it was first proposed, had now almost generally changed their sentiments. A council of this description, he asserted, would produce distraction and imbecility. On the subject of the prince of Wales's offer of service, the chancellor of the exchequer observed, that it had formerly been declined, and without even becoming a topic of animadversion! But he dismissed the subject with the assurance, that nothing short of the order of the house, or the command of his majesty, should induce him to enter into any further explanation.

Mr. Yorke endeavoured to explain the cause of general Fox's resignation, and at the same time vindicated the conduct of the Irish government from the imputation of blame. It was understood, he said, that, after the unfortunate occurrences of the 23d of July, a coolness had arisen between the lord lieutenant and the commander in chief. He was not aware how it arose, but he supposed it might have originated in such loose and unauthorized conversation at the Castle, as is always likely to happen on similar occasions. It was impossible for the king's service to go on, without cordiality and confidence between the lord lieutenant and the commander of the forces in Ireland. It was, therefore, necessary that one of them should be withdrawn; and as it was deemed expedient that the lord lieutenant

should

1

should remain: the resignation of the commander of the forces became unavoidable.

On the 12th of December Mr. Hobhouse appeared at the bar, with the report of the committee on the army estimates. Colonel Craufurd, on that occasion, made an exceedingly elaborate speech; and entered very circumstantially into all the minute details relative to the extensive and complicated system of military arrangements. In or der to place the national defence upon a great, solid, and permanent basis, he conceived it to be an object of the highest importance, that a military council should be established. This measure had been resisted by his majesty's ministers, chiefly on the ground that it would imply a want of confidence in the abilities of the commander in chief. He entertained the highest opinion of the talents and exertions of his royal highness; but, in the present situation of affairs, he had no hesitation in declaring, that he did not believe him to be capable, without further assistance, of doing ample justice to the country, in the administration of the various branches of the military department. He did not believe his royal highness to be equal to so great a task, because it far exceeded the powers of any one individual. The establishment of such a council, of which the commander in chief would naturally be president, and to which the master and lieutenantgeneral of the ordnance might, with others, be appointed members, would have the great advantage of uniting the different branches of the military department, which are now independent of each other.

He enforced the necessity of 1804.

placing the country in a posture of defensive security, even in time of peace, by the erection of military works, and the adoption of measures calculated to facilitate the ra pid increase of the military strength of the kingdom. Without entering into any discussion concerning the merits of the treaty of Amiens, such regulations, he said, were plainly suggested by the augmentation of offensive means which the French government had derived from the stipulations of that treaty. Sovereign of the Netherlands, and exercising a preponderant influence in Holland, France had acquired very increased means of offence, in case of a renewal of war. It undoubtedly then behoved us to strengthen, in proportion, our means of defence, and, consequently, to adopt a new and more enlarged military system than had ever been deemed necessary at any for mer period. Bonaparte's project of invasion was in contemplation when the peace of Amiens was negotiated; since, then, ministers must have foreseen both the probability of a rupture, and the precise nature of the war that would ensue, they should have preconcerted the measures which might eventually become necessary to meet such an attack. If it was foreseen, that, in the event of a rupture, a great armament of the people would be resorted to, the laws relating to this object should have been prepared at leisure, that they might be submitted in their least imperfect state to the approbation of parliament. The volunteer system he considered to be extremely defective; and the exemptions the most exceptionable part of it. He asserted that it interfered with the recruiting of the C

army

army

of reserve, and of the mili tia; that it gave to certain persons in the volunteer corps a power of deciding who should be subject to be balloted, according as they chose either to accept, or to reject, the offers of those who wished to become members of their corps; and that it gave a dubious character to the whole volunteer institution; inasmuch as it was now impossible to distinguish those who entered from pure zeal and patriotism, from such as were actuated only by a desire of escaping the operation of the other bills.

Reverting to the subject of fortifications, colonel Craufurd said, he would venture to assert, that without them every defensive system must be imperfect. To

execute them upon an extensive scale would undoubtedly be a work of time. But in no instance had such a system been commenced. In Ireland, where the necessity of fortresses had been admitted, not a single spot had been marked out by government for the purpose. With respect to England, he observed, that whatever difference of opinion might prevail with regard to the extent to which the system of fortifications should be carried, the propriety of fortifying a great military depot and place of arms, was, if we are really exposed to invasion, a subject upon which no difference of opinion could exist. He meant that it should at least be so fortified that it could not be taken without a regular siege. Thinking it possible that the enemy might succeed in the disembarkation of a considerable force in this country, he observed that many difficulties would oppose the landing of the requisite ammunition and military stores. If, therefore,

our military stores were secured against a coup-de-main, the enemy, unable to possess himself of them, would find the difficulties of invasion infinitely increased, in conse quence of being compelled to form a magazine of his own, and tó preserve with it an indispensable communication.

He regretted that recruiting from the militia was not resorted to, as it was a measure which had been, during the last war, adopted with so much success; and he was anxious that the militias of Great Britain and Ireland should be made

interchangeable. This measure appeared to him to be one of the advantages which he expected would result from the union. Colonel Craufurd also very strongly recommended an extensive organi. zation of the unarmed peasantry into corps of pioneers. He thought it impossible too highly to estimate the benefit which might be derived from their assistance: for the face of this country, being covered with inclosures, greatly impeded the action of those two descriptions of force, cavalry and artillery, in which we should be so decidedly superior to the enemy.

A variety of observations were made by other members who succeeded colonel Craufurd in the debate; but as they related principally either to the defects, or to the improvement and officering, of the volunteers, it is of less impor tance to notice them at present, as the volunteer institution, in so many instances, was, in the course of the session, the topic of parliamentary discussion. It is, however, proper to remark, that, in the course of the discussion, Mr. Erskine replied with considerable force to the animadversions of Mr. Windham