else was pressed into the debate, excepting what belonged to it, for the mere purpose of doing what the lawyers called blinking the question." Among the rest, the French service was held up as an example, and he would admit the wisdom of the maxim, Fas est ab hoste doceri; but in the present case the precedents adduced had either no apapplication at all, or were opposed to the argument of the right honourable gentleman. The truth was, the officers of the army had been heartily tired of the prolixity of ministers. Colonel Manly Power wrote, that he was gapingfor what Mr. Windham's plans would be (a laugh); He was completely sick of waiting for the system, and that he had applied for a month's absence, as every thing was at a stand-still. He added, that he had removed his small battalion, and that his men were doubled by the additional force bill; and further, that every man fit for general service had volunteered into it on receiving the bounty. An honourable gentleman (Mr. Grattan) had talked of Roman discipline, and then had reverted to his favourite republic; but what applied to the Roman phalanx and legion was wholly inapplicable to modern warfare. The Honourable Judge Advocate had spoken of Scotland, as of a country peculiarly sensible where money was concerned, as if the Irish and English were not equally susceptible of the mercenary feeling. The General did not understand either the policy or the propriety of this local reasoning. From the view he took of the measure, it appeared to him most unwise and dangerous, and he hoped its progress would be interrupted before so fine an army was impaired by such fanciful schemes.

The Lord Advocate of Scotland did not exactly know to whom the honourable general alluded, when he styled him judge advocate, and his doubts were not wholly removed when the allusion was made to his observations, for they did not seem to have been correctly understood by that gallant officer. Limited service was the most successful way of procuring men; and to suppose they could not judge of the advantages of limited service, because they had not sustained the character, was as absurd as to imagine that a young virgin could not be acquainted with some of the blessings of marriage because she had not be-. fore entered into that happy state. In the country in which he was best informed, the men were not obtained by hanging a purse upon a halbert; they took rational

views of their situation, and on these formed their determination. With those gentlemen on the other side, who had considered perpetual service so acceptable, he should be glad to handle such a weapon, and engage on the recruiting duty with them. What would be the arguments they had to offer to the generous youth of the northern mountains, who loved the wilds of which they were natives, because they were the favourite seat of liberty? "Hasten with us, (they must say) and resign your country. Enter the wild world, and forget the soil of your birth. Leave your fathers and relatives to their romantic hills and fruitful vales, for to them you shall never return." Such must be the in

vitation they must employ. But what would be the language to which he would resort?" Young men (he would exclaim), the love of your country clings about your hearts; filial duty, honour, and affection, are dear to you as existence; you revere the fraternal attachment, and will surrender none of the sacred obligations of domestic life. I know you will despise all danger in the defence of these fond objects of your solicitude: advance then with me to the field of virtue and glory, and, if you survive the conflict, you shall return to the arms of your relatives, and to the bosom of your country, covered with those laurels which shall command the respect and the gratitude of your compatriots." With such inducement, and such hopes, thousands would flock to the standard of their sovereign; nor would they cast" one longing, lingering look" toward their native homes, until the war was terminated; for they would know, that, if they presumed to relinquish the scene of their duty, they would return to parents and relatives, who would consider their appearance among them derogatory to Scottish valour. When gentlemen talked of the future and remote disadvantages of the plan proposed by his right honourable friend, they reminded him of a dispute regarding a canal between Edinburgh and Glasgow, for the supply of coals. In one direction it passed through a vale without the smallest interruption, on a perfect level, and the tract through which it was to pass contained a supply of coals for three centuries: in another it was to be obstructed by sixty-seven locks, and to be elevated seven hundred and fifty feet above the surface of the sea, but the supply of coals was sufficient for five centuries. It was a disgrace to the good sense of the country, that like this bill the former channel had numerous opponents. The temper

of the hardy Caledonian, to whose bravery the nation had been so often indebted, was little known. Tell him to abandon the fond scenes of his youth for ever, and he will retire to the deep recesses of his mountains: indulge the expectation that he will, after a term of peril and fatigue, revisit his domestic hearth, and he will accompany you round the globe. His wants are few, but without freedom nothing can satisfy his desires. Donald, the peasant, had three wishes to express; the first was, fill my cap full of snuff;' the second, fill my barn with whiskey;' for the third, his invention, uninstructed by luxury, was deficient, and he exclaimed, "fill my cap again with snuff.' Such (concluded the Lord Advocate) are my notions of the operation of this project in Scotland, and it shall receive my hearty support.

Mr. Johnstone thought that the learned lord approved this measure only on account of the men who proposed it, as he had said that men could not be procured under the additional force act, where the advantages to the recruit were greater. He contended that in the present state of Furope none but the lowest orders could be expected to serve as soldiers. He had but little faith in the energies which had been ascribed, particularly to the soldiers of a free country, as the militia of a free country would always. be superior to the regular army of a despotic government. He admitted that the army ought to be augmented, but thought an addition ought to be made by enlisting from the militia.

Mr. Whitbread contended that the object of his right honourable friend was to put an end to all the theories which had been brought forward for a long time past. Like a skilful surgeon, he was removing the bandages, in order that nature might have her way. He mentioned these theories, such as the quota bill, the provisional cavalry, the army of reserve act, and the additional force act, all of which had failed.. Ife denied that there was any danger of exciting mutiny or discontent from this measure. He also contended that the calculations respecting the expence had been erroneous. He denied that this measure trenched, in the smallest degree, on the prerogative of the crown; for, unless the mutiny bill was passed every year, the King could not have a soldier. The instance of the East India Company's soldiers was an answer to the objections relative to the colonial service. He contended that there

was

was no danger of a relaxation of discipline, as soldiers never loved a commander the better for great remissness in this respect. He suspected that those who opposed the measure did it from a desire to get into their places. One noble lord was so fond of place, that he thought he was reposing, while in place, on a bed of roses. He might have had some tossings and tumblings, and have felt some of the roses folded under him, a circumstance which had given pain to a certain voluptuary. The expression of his right honourable friend, now no more, "Oh, my country!" was not one which might be expected from a person reposing on a bed of roses. Another gentleman (Mr. Canning) did not consider the harness but the horses, not the measures, but the men. Here, however, there were both good harness and good horses.

The question on the third reading was then put and carried.

Mr. Sturges Bourne then rose, and adverted to the difficulties to which both Houses were reduced by this measure. Here the members were deprived of the usual opportunities of discussing it, by its being proposed as a clause in the mutiny bill, and that in a committee. The bill, too, must pass before a certain time. The other House would be in a worse situation; for this being a money bill, they would make no amendments. He contended that the prerogative of the crown was trenched upon; and, after adverting to the usual topics of the expence, the danger to the discipline of the army, &c. &c. he concluded by moving his amendment, that the services of the soldiers should continue during any war existing at the period at which they might otherwise be entitled to their discharge.

Lord Henry Petty observed, that the clause to which the honourable gentlemen opposite principally directed their attention, did nothing more than what amounted to a declaration of the legislature, to continue for seven years, what formerly they were considered only to allow one. But the necessities of almost every state in Europe were now so much increased, that his Majesty's ministers had felt it incumbent on them to make additional demands upon the population of the country for the preservation of the whole: this was but a modification of the royal prerogative, by which the King is entitled to call on the whole of his people to rise in arms for the support of his crown and dignity, as well as for the defence of the rights

and

and liberties of a free nation. What was the army of reserve act, but an additional demand on the population of the country? What was the additional force act but an additional demand on the population of the country? And what had his right honourable friend done but to make the additional demand on the population of the country more simplified and effectual than it had as yet been made by any other plan that we had seen brought forward? Much as he admired the general character of the British army, he could not avoid observing, that the desertions were now become a disgrace to that army; but the system of his right honourable friend would be most likely to an effectual stop to the practice, by withdrawing the temptations which led men to desert; their condition would be bettered, and they would be certain of having an opportunity to exercise their own choice at a definite period. Gentlemen said, that in a time of war we should not adopt any new theoretical experiment. He was well convinced, however, that a time of war or danger was not a time in which we should give way to any feelings of fear. This reminded him of an anecdote told of a very brave man, who, being asked how he would act if he were on the top of Salisbury steeple, replied, Just in the same manner as if I were on Salisbury plain. And there could be no doubt that in time of danger true wisdom consisted in acting with steadiness and

courage.

Mr. Canving rose not only for the purpose of replying to the noble lord who had spoken last, but of recapitulating as shortly as he could the leading arguments by which this measure had been opposed, and which remained at this period of the discussion wholly unanswered; of reminding the House of the state in which the question now stood; and of conjuring them to avail themselves of this last opportunity, which was afforded them by the amendment of his honourable friend (Mr. S. Bourne), if not to save the regu lar army of the country altogether from the peril of the projected innovation, at least to disarm that innovation of part of the mischief with which it threatened to be attended.

The precise object of the amendment is to prevent the operation of the discharges during war: to prevent, if possible, the dismemberment or dissolution of the British army, at periods when the very safety of the country may depend upon its being kept together. The noble lord who spoke last has either misunderstood or dexterously mistated the purport of this amendment. He has argued against it as if

its