ly that they will live in very great harmony with that part of the corps who have not left home? In short, who, upon barely hearing these questions asked, has no already answered, that the plan is utterly impracticable; and, that the only good that could possibly arise from attempting its execution, would be to throw all the corps in the kingdom into ten times greater confusion than they already are, and shew us, at once. the incurable defects of the system? The effect on the regular army inust be dreadful The "small bounty" men, would, doubtless, be quartered, during their " permanent duty," where they would be liable to be frequently seen by the soldiers of the army. Indeed, the gentleman proposes to bring 80 or 100,000 of them so near to the regulars, as that the former may be assisted in their instructon by the regular officers in the several districts respectively. And, does Mr. Put think, that the "small bounty" men, who, in addition to a soldier's pay will receive wherewith to get dead drunk three days in a week, and who will have little or no control over them, does he think, that such men, äressed in soldier's clothes and calling themselves soldiers, does he really think that such men will afford an useful example to the regular army? And does he hope, that the non-commissioned officers, or even the officers, of that army will, entirely escape the contagion, especially when by another part of his plan, captains and subalterns of the army are invited to seek for promotion to the rank of field-officers by paying their court, not to their superiors in the army, but to the officers and men of volunteer corps?- SECONDLY; Mr. Pitt recommends, in order to enforce attendance at drill, that, in each corps, a set of regulations shall be subscribed by each member, and that these regulations should impose fines upon defaulters, and should render persons not attending at parade liable to arrest and detention, until tried before a magis trate, who should have the power of commuting any fine for a short imprisonment of two or three days!!! Upon this part of his scheme Mr. Pitt observed, that he was de. cidedly against making any change in the system, unless such as was of absolute necessity, and that this was so, he said, would be denied by no man who had witnessed the volunteer parades. Whether the, change bere proposed be of absolute necessity, or not, I shall not attempt to decide; but this I do know, that it never can be carried into execution. If adopted in the act, it will, of course, be general. The regulations will be the same in every corps, or else, Par

liament may as well hold its tongue upon the subject, and leave the corps and their committees to go on with the good work of legislation, which, thanks to Mr. Pitt and the ministers, they have already so diligently and successfully begun. If the regulations are not prescribed by the act, the act must empower the magistrates to carry the regulations of each corps, be they what they may, into effect. But, let who will make the regulations, no man, it seems, is to be bound by them, unless he chooses to subscribe to them. And, how many men are there in this United Kingdom, who will voluntarily set their hands to a paper, which shall compel them to appear at a certain place, to obey certain persons, and perform certain acts, upon pain of iustant arrest and imprisonment? Are there one hundred men, out of three millions, who will do this? Besides, did ever morial man before hear of such a jumble of civil and military authority? Who is to be the judge of the offence? Is the offender to be arrested by a warrant or an order? Is he to be siezed by a serjeant or a constable? Where is he to be detained? In the jait, or in a guard-house? If the latter, suppose he attempts to escape? Can the persous who have charge of him shoot him? Is there any crime in rescuing him? What an endless source of broils, illblood, of assaults, batteries and law-suits! What "glorious confusion" would reign from one end to the other of the country! These projects are to be received with great caution. Nothing is so dangerous, espe cially in times like the present, as that spirit of innovation, that defiance of all usage and all experience, that eagerness to meet every emergency with some new invention, which, I am truly sorry to say it, appears, of late, constantly to pervade the mind of Mr. Pitt. Has this gentleman heard of no volmieer being imprisoned? Has he heard of any one being imprisoned and not rescued by his comrades? Does he think, that any roundhouse or jail would long contain a volunteer confined for military misbehaviour? Does he in good truth imagine, that a young man, or that any man not of base spirit or infamous character, would submit to be lodged in the receptacle for thieves and other ignominious, offenders, merely because he had been absent from a parade without leave, or without sufficient cause? Does he, indeed, suppose, that a father will, on such an account, quietly walk into jail in the presence of his children? Or, that any man will, for such a cause, submit to such disgrace in the eyes of his relations, his friends, or bis neighbours? And, if it be not an imprisonment in

a jail or some place other than military, what has the civil magistrate to do with the com mitment? If such a regulation were to pass into a law, one of two consequences would result from it: either no volunteers would subscribe the regulation, and then it would be nugatory, or, if generally signed, and attempted to be enforced, it would produce continual riots and rescues, 'till, in a very short space of time, the magistracy and the laws would be trodden underfoot. If, therefore, the volunteers cannot be induced to attend without such a regulation as this; if this be a measure of 66 absolute necessity" to the existence of the volunteer system, that system never can be supported for another half year, without shaking to its cen re the civil government of the country. "Man," he has very truly and very tritely observed, "is "the creature of babit;" and, let him remember, that, if he once destroys or considerably enfeebles the habitual reverence for, and obedience to, the laws, he will, in reality, have gone very far towards subverting the constitution, to uphold which must certainly be one of his principal objects.

Having thus provided, as he seemed to think, for the permanence and discipline of the volunteers, Mr. Pitt next directed his fostering care towards the regular army, in which, though directly in the teeth of his former calculations, opinions, and predictions, he was obliged to confess recruiting was at a stand. Still clinging, however, to his volunteer system, though found to be so miserably defective, he would not allow, that it had contributed towards the impoverishing of the army, notwithstanding the contrary had been proved, by argument, fifty times over, and notwithstanding that argument nor any part of it had ever been attempted to be refuted. But, in spite of all his endeavours to preserve his consistency, without acknowledging his error, he does allow, that, such is the state of the country, from some cause or other, that the army cannot any longer be kept up (not augmented, but kept up) by the ordinary means of recruiting, even including all the aid, which it has received, and which it is likely to receive, from the inlistments made amongst the creatures, who have, merely for the sake of money, became substitutes in the army of reserve. To prevent the army, therefore, from wasting entirely away, and yet not to give up any part of the volunteer corps, Mr. Pitt proposes, that the militia should be reduced! His project is this: that there shall be in constant existence a body called the Army of Reserve; that, from this body, men may at any time enlist into the regulars, aud, as fast as they do so

enlist, their places shall be supplied by a fresh ballot; that, as vacancies occur in the militia, they should remain not filled up, until that bo ly be reduced to its "old stand"ard; that, in consequence of every such vacancy, a man should be balloted for, but that, instead of joining the militia, he should join the army of reserve, in order to keep up the means of recruiting from this latter body into the regular army; and thus," says he," as one body would be reduced, the "other would be augmented." Very true; just as one bottle is filled by the emptying of another into it; but, most people will allow, that the liquor, at every remove, becomes more flat and worthless, and certain I am, that there is no military officer, who would not rather have one man, originally raised for the regular army, than three men, who, through the hands of parish officers or dealers in substitutes, have first reached the army of reserve, and have then, for the sake of a new bounty, and not for the love of the service, come into the regular army.But, before I proceed any further, I cannot refrain from referring, for a moment, to the parliamentry debates in June last, upon the subject of the army of reserve. On the first agita ing of that subject, Mr. Windham made the speech, from which my motto is taken, and every word of which should now be carefully attended to. Mr. Pitt did not, that day, speak at any length; but, he took care to say, that he "completely differed "from almost the whole of Mr. Windham's "ideas." In the debate of the 23d of June, Mr. Elliot, who spoke before Mr. Pitt, expressed his opinion, that unless the militia were reduced to the "old standard" the regular army must remain in a state of impoverishment; and, during his speech, by a word from Mr. Windham, it appeared that this was the opinion of both of them. It is best to quote the passage in the report of the debate. "I am a friend to the principle "of the militia, and am afraid, there is a "shade of difference of opinion, upon this

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point, between me and my right hon. "friend; [Mr. Windham indicated that "there was none]. I am glad that I do not "differ from my right hon. friend. But, "though I am a friend to the general prin

of June, Mr. Pitt, after some sarcastic remarks on the opinions of Mr. Elliot and Mr. Windham, which remarks appeared to give great delight to the militia colonels; after' extolling the virtues of that "constitutional "force" the militia, and reverting to the glorious era when it was first established, said that "he was not a little surprised when he heard it gravely asserted, that the existence of a large militia force was incompatible with "the existence of a large regular army; that "it being admitted, that a Militia of 30,000 "was good in its kind, it must be allowed, "that, under the present circumstances, we "wanted a much larger number." And, this is the person, who now proposes to reduce the militia to this very number of 30,000 men! Ought we not, another time, to hesitate, before we are led into measures at the suggestion of this gentleman? The gradual reduction of the militia, leaving the army of reserve out of the question, is a wise proposition; but, it is well known, and Mr. Pitt ought publickly to have acknowledged, that it is a proposition, which was long ago made by Mr. Windham.However, the great and intuitive mind of Mr. Pitt, over which there hung such a thick cloud on the 23d of June last, has now discovered, not only "that a large militia force is incompa

tible with a large regular army," but that it is * incompatible with a small regular army; and, therefore, he wishes to reduce it; but here again the good of his project is over- balanced by the evil. This reduction is not to afford any relief to the parishes; it is not to tend to re-open the field for recruiting by diminishing the call for, and, of course, the price of, substitutes; the same number of men are still to be balloted for, the burden upon the persons not entitled to volunteer exemptions is to be increased, and the ditficulties of recruiting in the regular, and the only proper way must now be regarded, if this project be adopted, as being completely cut off for the whole duration of the war. What an enormous expense will this preposterous project, if it become a law, entail upon the nation? What an intolerable burden upon the persons exposed to the ballot? And, of what sort of men will the regular army, thus recruited, consist? What does Mr. Pitt think can be done with the miserable ditch water-like stuff that will be poured into the regular army through the army of reserve, into which they have been led purely by a hankering after those beastly enjoyments, which are to be procured only by money. And, let it be remembered, too, that, it will be the worst, and not the best part, of the army of reserve, that will enter into the re

gulars; the men who are disliked by their officers; men who are in debt, or have rendered themselves suspected by their comrades, or who cannot resist the temptation of enjoying another week or two of delicious drunkenness. And this is the description of persons who are to fight the battles, to defend the liberties, and to avenge the injuries of England! But, says Mr. Pitt, what will prevent the creditable youth of the country from entering into the army of reserve; or into the regular army, if they like it better? let him look at the army of reserve, and see if the creditable youth of the country have entered it. No; the high bounties have degraded the profession of a soldier, which, God knows, was never much respected in this shop keeping country. It is now no longer a profession; it is a mere trade; it is talked of as a trade; and, accordingly, it offers no allurements but the bare money; parodying what Swift says of the law, it is now so much blood for so "much money, and so much money for so "much blood." The consequences are what we see, and they are just such as it was natural to expect, from committing the formation and supporting of an army to the hands of tax-grinders and stock calculators. -As to the project for "limiting the bounty "to be given to substitutes," and for preventing its being so high as the bounty for the regular army, it strikes one as something so much like Robespierre's maximum, that to attempt to reason upon it would be perfectly useless. This, however, may be said, without hearing the project in detail, that the bounty for the regular army must be higher than the average of the army of reserve bounty now is, or, the persons balloted must be compelled to serve in person. Which of these provisions Mr. Pit may choose is not, perhaps, very certain; but, without one or the other of them, the project must fall to the ground-The confining of recruiting parties to particular districts would have no good effect; and the making of recruiting officers stationary in these districts would produce great injury to the recruiting service. Novelty, which is pleasant in every thing else, is not less so in matters of this kind; and, before Mr. Pitt again states, that "recruits would be more

easily obtained, through the connexion "that would grow up between the people "and the recruiting officers," let him consult the returns that have been made, upon the recruiting service, and see whether such a connexion has not invariably proved an obstacle in the way of success. In short, his notions upon this subject are completely

at variance with all the maxims of the army, maxims which have grown, not cut of a spirit for projecting, but out of long observation and experience. Before I dismiss this subject entirely, I cannot forbear to say a word or two upon the manner in which Mr. Pitt introduced what he had to say, in both debates, upon the subject of the volunteer system, and matters connected therewith. He acknowledges the many and great defects of the system; but, he will not hear a word of doing it away. "No," says he, "it is now too late to talk of that; there

is not time to supply the place of the vo "lunteer system; we must rely upon that,

or upon nothing, and, therefore, all that re"mains for us to do, is to determine how

we can best improve it, it being now ex"tremely inadequate to its object." This want of time is, with Mr. Pitt, a standing argument for the adoption of any thing that he proposes, relative to the defence of the country. The army of reserve might not, he said, be the best measure that could be devised; but, there was no time to think of any other; the Volunteer system, as it now stands, was not so good as it might have been; but there was no time to make it better the danger pressed,, the enemy was at hand; and, as he sarcastically told Mr. Elliot, on the 23d of June, "unless he could "obtain a cartel from Buonaparté to stop "till we had raised a regular army, his qb"jection to the balloted force would be of

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no avail." This is just his language now. He tells us that the enemy may come in a week, or a fortnight; and that, therefore, there is no time to think about obtaining another sort of force in the place of the voJunteers. Thus we are always in a hurry; always acting upon the spur of the moment; always adopting measures under the impression of immediate danger. Upon this same principle Mr. Pitt deprecated all inquiry into the past conduct of ministers relative to the defence of the country. We are not to ask even in which way our means have hitherto been employed. We are not to inquire what the ministers have done with the millions that they have taken from us for our defence: no, we are to carry them more, and ask no questions. "The defence of "the country ought to occupy every man's "attention it is quite enough to fill the "mind of any man, without mixing with "it any inquiries as to the state of politics, "or the conduct of ministers." Oh! exclaim the trembling Cockneys, what patrio

tic sentiments! What a disinterested man he is! he scorns all party spirit, and thinks about nothing but saving us from the hands of those hard-hearted ruffians, who have vowed our destruction! Nothing, it must be confessed, is better calculated to take, with the great and little vulgar, than the line of conduct pursued by Mr. Pitt; but, persons who are not to be caught with chaff. may be permitted to ask, whether he did not, so long as five months ago, give, as a toast amongst his Cockney triends, "the "Volunteers, and a speedy meeting with

Buonaparté upon our own shores?" Meaning, thereby, that he wished the enemy might land, and that he might be encoun-, tered, five months ago, by the very troops, which he declares to be now 66 extremely "inadequate to their object!" And, one might, too, be permitted to ask Mr. Pitt, whether, amongst the means of rational defence, a wise and vigorous ministry ought not to be reckoned, as essential; and, if so, one might further ask him, what object he can have in view by using all his influence for the purpose of prolonging the duration, without strengthening the hands, of the present ministry, whom both he and his friends have represented, and are continually repre senting, as incapable of conducting the affairs of the nation at any time whatever? Let us have an answer to these questions, before we hear any more of the patriotic conduct of Mr. Pitt. Either the ministry ought to have his support, or they ought not. If the first, why does he not support them? Why does he not give them real support, and not preface every speech, in which he defends them, with hints that this is "not "the proper time for inquiring into their "conduct?" If the second, why does he not openly and manfully oppose them? One line or the other it must be his duty to take. Decidedly one or the other. Any thing between; any thing that shall prop up, without supporting; that shall hold in check, without opposing, must be injurious to the country, and must, by every man of sense and spirit, be regarded, not only as unpatri otic and undignified, but selfish and mean in the extreme.

The 11th Number of COBBETT'S PARLI AMENTARY DEBATES, containing an accurate Report of the interesting Debate on his Majesty's Indisposition, is ready for delivery. Complete sets of the work may be had of the Publishers of the Register.