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VOLUNTEER SYSTEM.

That there is a necessity for some revision of the Volunteer System is now denied by no one, who has turned his attention to the subject, and who is not hostile, or totally indifferent, to the welfare of his country. The nature and degree of the changes to be made must depend upon the impressions, which experience shall have produced on the minds of the Parliament and of his Majesty's ministers; but, in the mean time, it is by no means improper, and may not be altogether useless, for me to suggest such measures as appear to me to be necessary to prevent the volunteer corps, who have been embodied and armed for the defence of their country, from further impeding, certainly against their will, the military service of that country, and from being eventually the innocent cause of subverting the throne of their Sovereign, and with it, their own liberties and those of their children.

Numerous are the causes, which will always so operate as to render the volunteers unfit to perform the duties of soldiers; but, it is not on the defects but on the dangers of the system, that I now propose to offer a few observations to the public. Of these dangers, which are by no means few in number, those which seem to me 'to be of the greatest magnitude are such as have arisen, and will arise, from the exemptions to which volunteers are entitled, and from the holding of committees and elections in the

corps.

In consequence of an interpretation of the law, assuredly contrary to the meaning of Parliament, which interpretation has, however, by a subsequent act, been fully sanctioned and confirmed, the volunteer corps are become an asylum from the hardships of the militia ballots as well as those of the army of reserve: so that, every member of a volunteer corps, by way of reward for performing about a hundred days exercise,

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for each of which days, be it remembered, he receives a soldier's pay, will obtain an exemption, for five years, from the ballets of the militia and the army of reserve. The impoverishment which these exemptions produce in the other three descriptions of force scarcely needs pointing out: it has been, and is, but too visible in the returns of all the regiments and battalions in the service, whether regulars, reserve, or militia.* But this is a point on which it is not my present purpose to dwell. What I particu larly wish to call the public attention to, in this part of the subject, is, the discontent and consequent disaffection, which, at no very distant period, may arise, from the hardship, which begins already to be severely felt, of furnishing the ballots for the militia and the army of reserve out of the few persons, comparatively speaking, who are not now, by one cause or another, exempted from the operation of those ballots. The volunteer exemptions have so reduced the number of persons liable to be ballotted, that the burthen is become very heavy on those who remain liable, and, it cannot but be painful to reflect, that, such is the nature of the volunteer system, that it has thrown this burthen upon those persons, who are the least able to bear it. The moment it was discovered, that the volunteer corps had, in their constitution, the virtue of exempting

The Surrey militia, first and second battalion together, ought to consist of 2,023 men, but it does even at this time, consist of no more than 1,030, leaving a deficiency of 993, or almost onehal! and this at the end of nine months! Of the army of reserve, England and Scotland were to furnish 40,000 men, and we know, by the returns laid before Parliament, that only 28,000 of them have been raised. And, as to the regular army, its recruiting service except as far as it has been kept moving by the army of reserve, is absolutely at a stand, the whole, horse and foot, not having recruited nine thousand effective men in nine months of war and of preparation for war!

their members from the chance of being obliged to perform, or to pay for, a duty fifty times as great as that of serving as a volunteer, every one wished to become a volunteer. It was natural. No blame whatever attaches to the persons thus pursuing their interest and their ease. The fault lay in the system, and not in the mo tives of the persons who were acted upon by it, many of whom, it is, also, right to observe, were led into the corps by motives of public spirit only. Upon the back of this came another evil. Every man who was about to make one of a military association, naturally had some wish as to the sort of persons who were to be his associates. Hence a selection took place; and, as the first founders of corps were necessarily persons of property, the selection was, as might be expected, such as to exclude almost all those who were neither the relations, the friends, the servants, or the dependants in some way or other, of the founders of the corps; an exclusion which was likely to extend to, and which has extended to, nearly all the married journeymen, labourers, and cottagers in the kingdom, a description of persons, which, above all others, it is the duty of the government to protect and to cherish. Here, again, we have to blame the system, not the men. What is so natural as for a man to wish to have in the same corps with him, those whose company he best likes out of the corps? When he has a favour to confer, an exemption to bestow, what is so natural as for him to bestow it on those to whom he is attached by affection or by interest? On a son, for whom he would, otherwise, have to hire a substitute, or on a servant, whom, otherwise, he must lose, or to whom he must make a great advance of wages? But, however natural this partiality might be, and however excusable in the persons exercising it, no one will, I imagine, venture to say, that, as to its operation on many of the persons excluded from the corps, it was not, and is not, burthensome in the extreme. Why a self-created committee, or even a commander of a corps, should possess the power of admitting to exemptions, or of excluding from exemptions, and, consequently, of diminishing, or adding to, the burthens of whomsoever they please, I can see neither reason nor necessity; I can see, in the arbitrary exercise of such a pow er, nothing consonant to the spirit or the letter of the volunteer law, or of any other law of this country. If, indeed, the volunteers merely obtained a good for themselves, without causing harm to others, there might Le less ground for complaint; but, as the

case now stands, they not only exempt themselves from the operation of the ballots of the militia and of the army of reserve, but they throw their share of those burthens upon the poor and friendless part of the people, in addition to what those people already have to bear! This never was originally intended by either the Parliament or the ministers. It arose entirely out of the interpretation of the law officers of the crown; and, though it has now been 'sanctioned by an act, let us hope, that, in the revision of the system, means will be provided, if not to do away this source of calamity and discontent, at least, to put a stop to its further extention.

On

The rule of exemption gave rise to another, not less dangerous in the consequences which it is likely to produce. The lawofficers of the crown, who seem, on this occasion, to have been considered as law, givers, having exempted the volunteers from the operation of the ballots, found out a counterpoise for it in another interpretation, to wit, that no volunteer could, after being duly enrolled, quit his corps, without the consent of his commanding officer. what they founded either this or the beforementioned interpretation, we are, as yet, quite uninformed; but, without being very minute in our inquiries as to this point, we may venture to assert. that, if the rule which they have laid down with respect to men not quitting their corps, be attempted to be adhered to, not only the corps but the courts of justice and the whole country will, before many months have passed over our heads, be thrown into confusion. The case of Mr. Dowley of the Surrey Volunteer Cavalry has been determined, by the magistrates at Union Hall, against the defendant, who quitted the corps, without the consent of his commanding officer, and whose fines on account of absence amounted to 5 1. 2 s. He refused to pay these fines; a distress was made upon his goods, which he refused to redeem, and which were, in consequence, sold by public auction; and, it is stated in the public prints, that the merits of the decision and seizure will be brought before the Court of King's Bench, in the shape of an action for an illegal restraint. Similar disputes exist, and similar actions are brewing in every part of the country. At the quarter sessions, held in and for the town of Colchester, on the 9th instant, a complaint was, it seems, preferred by a Secretary of a Volunteer Corps, against a Mr. Lloyd, a member of the said corps, on grounds similar to those of the complaint against Mr. Dowley, and the decision appears to have

been similar also, Mr. Lloyd expressing his resolution to bring the matter into the Court of King's Bench. The pubic prints state, that, as to the corps at Colchester, " very "serious disputes had, for some time, prevailed amongst the members, accompanied "with some acts of violence. Much time elapsed in the discussion of this business; great warmth appeared occasionally on both sides; and the court was, at one "time, most indecently and shamefully in"terrupted by a violent clapping and shout

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ing, at some observations made by the "counsel for the defendant,” * For modesty's sake, for decency's sake, let us no longer use the name of volunteer! Volunteers, who are kept in their corps by the terrors of the law! How will this fact soun in the ears of foreigners, whether friends or enemies? Will it create us alliances, and will it damp the hopes of our foe? Will it induce the world to believe, that we can make good the manly declaration which the Commander in Chief made to the London Volunteers at the Review, that "they would "enable their country to hurl back the "threats of the insolent enemy?" Volunteers held in the service of their country by the terrors of the law! yet, I blame not the men, but the system, which forces them forward in so ridiculous a light: it is not Bannister that we laugh at, but Scrub.

As if, however, there were not already quarrelling and litigation enough, Mr. Piit calls for harder exercise, tighter rules, and a more summary mode of levying fines! What mode he will devise more summary than that of a legal distress of goods and chattels I know not, unless he should prevail upon Parliament to authorise the commanding officers of corps to levy in virtue of their own order instead of a warrant, and by the aid of a detachment of soldiers instead of the constable, or sheriff; that is to say, unless a foraging or marauding system should, in this respect, be made to supercede the law of the land; but, let me remind Mr. Pitt, that even foragers and marauders, though armed as well as heart could wish, would not be able to levy upon a man who should happen to have no goods or chattels to levy upon. Indeed, this circumstance must now, where it exists, always be a bar to punishment, and as it does very frequently exist, such a mode of punishment is unequal and unjust in its operation, and ought to be entirely abolished. How, then, will you keep the men in their corps? By their own

* I quote, here, the ministerial paper, the Morning Post, of the 11th instant.

good will, or not at all. Let them no longer be entitled to exemptions, and no longer be obliged to remain in their corps; let the terrors of the law induce them neither to enter nor to remain; then they will be worthy of the name of Volunteers, and there will always be two hundred thousand of them, at least, embodied, and fitter for service than they are now. If they cannot leave their corps, or absent themselves from its duties, without the permission of their commanding officer, they are enlisted to all intents and purposes, except as far as relates to punishment, which is inflicted upon their purse instead of upon their back.* They are enlisted, and, if they have any property, it may all be taken from them by distress, morsel by morsel, till they are in a situation to laugh at their officers and the magis trates too! Did the world ever before witness a system like this?

The whole of the persons, who are now in the volunteer corps, cannot remain there, without producing very great distress, not to say ruin, to a considerable portion of them. One half of the membe s of volunteer corps are small tradesmen, and other persons affected by such service, in the same manner as small tradesmen are. To such men absence from their business is sure to bring them into decay, and, with them, the first step of decay is not far from the last step of rain. Their little ticklish affairs are kept up by unremitted exertion, and by such exertion alone. The least relaxation brings them down and reduces them to atoms. At first they did not feel the incon venience and injury of this alienation from their business they saw in the service nothing nearly so burthensome as the militia or army of reserve; the thing was new and fashionable; the national resentment against the enemy was in its youth and vigour; and, they entered the volunteer ranks under the combined influence of interest, novelty, and enthusiasm. When the two latter are completely worn away, and when the first is found to have been more than counter. balanced by losses and expenses arising from the service, can any man believe, that the parties will patiently remain in their corps? Will not distress upon distress of goods and

* If the newspapers are to be believed they have, however, been very near to the backs of their drum-boys! These little fellows are, perhaps, really inlisted in the regular service, and, of course, are subject to martial law. But are the volunteer officers duly authorised to sit on courts marial, without being themselves under martial law? Never was there such a mass of incongruites and absurdities!

chattels take place, till the persons thus vexed and humiliated will become very numerous? And will not these persons communicate their discontents to others? And will not the consequence soon be discontent almost general, especially if, at the time to which I am looking forward, the whole weight of the war taxes, with an arrear of the income-tax, should come to the aid of the embarrassments arising from the volunteer service? I would seriously ask Mr. Pitt, whether he imagines, that, under circumstances like, these, which I here anticipate, persons will be compelled to remain, and give their attendance in volunteer corps? If, at the end of three months, we find men generally tired of the service; if we find thom, at the end of three delightful autumnal months, suffering their goods and chattels to be distrained; if we find them, in every quarter of the country, disputing and mutinying,

66 • Quarreling for a straw, or feather, "And wondering how they came together;" if we find them thus already, what are we to expect at the end of twelve or eighteen months? People in easy circumstances may spare, for years together, a portion of their time for military exercise; but small tradesmen never can, without bringing ruin upon their families; and, this sort of ruin, when it comes to be pretty regularly, though thinly, spread over a country, is, in the work of revolution, the most powerful of all causes.

nothing short of a destruction of the law presents an effectual remedy; and, therefore, it is very unwise to suffer, if you can prevent it, the existence of any cause, which tends to the creating of such debtors; especially in a country where to be in debt is, according to the measure of the law, to be almost a criminal. So far, however, is Mr. Pitt from dreading any effect of this sort, that he wishes the volunteers, and the small tradesmen, of course, amongst the rest, to be kept out at drill three times as much as they are now! Out of three hundred and sixty-five days he wishes these pe ple to be employed sixty days at military exercise! I have been accustomed to regard Mr. Pitt as a wise man; but when I think of this proposition; when I consider that it applies to 400,000 men in arms and not under martial law; when I view it in detall; when I pursue it through the miseries, the pains and penalties, of irs execution, and the almost certain horrors of its consequences, I cannot but ask myself, is this the wisdom that will save my country!

Great, however, as are the dangers here pointed out, they shrink into nothingness at the appearance of those, which are to be apprehended from the mutinous, democratizing, and rebellious tendency of the committees and other deliberative bodies, appertaining to volunteer corps, and consisting of its members, or of other persons, having au

To a

How general the non-attendance in the Surrey Volunteer Cavalry was, so soon as the 23d of September, will appear from the circular letter of CAPT. COLLINGDON, dated on that day :-" Sir," says he," so little attention having been observ "ed by many individuals of the troop to my let

ter of the 26th of Aug. and no regard paid to the "sacred pledge which you signed on the muster roll, it is "a duty, I owe not only to those gentlemen who "have given me their constant attendance on "the days appoimed for drill and exercise; but "also to his Majesty, who entrusted me with a "commission to discipline the corps, to state in plain terms, that without constant attendance "my endeavours will prove fruitless; and there"fore any gentleman who does not attend one

of the morning drills, and also Thursday in every week, for one month to come, will re"ceive his dismissal." This was a circular addressed to every member of the corps; and, it may easily be imagined, that the Captain found himself with a very small troop, before he issued such a paper.

committees certainly originated in no evil. design: they naturally grew out of the sys tem, which, instead of first providing commanding officers, and authorizing them to collect their corps, provided wo head at all ; but called upon the people to assemble, and to form and organize themselves into companics and battalions. They did so, and who can wonder at the wild work they made? Who can wonder, that, in the whole fifteen hundred volunteer corps, there are scarcely any two, which are governed by the same rules and regulations? Who can wonder at the establishment of committees and sub-committees, and who can wonder that these committees, after having chosen the officers of the corps, continue to possess and to exercise all the power, rendering the officers merely their agents? The governinent called upon the loyalty, the patriotism, and the zeal of the people: all these they found in abundance; but all these, without know? ledge, without a wise and uniform system, were likely to produce, and they have produced, more harm than good. The people were told, that, by forming themselves into