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and the cheapest mode of attaining this object, was that of raising a supplementary levy of militia, to be grafted upon the old establishment. He proposed, that this supplement should consist of sixty thousand men, not to be immediately called out, but to be enrolled, officered, and gradually trained, so as to be fit for service at a moment of danger. It would be expedient to regulate the future levy, not by the proportions then existing, but by a general estimate of the inhabitants who were able to bear arms. The next consideration was the manner in which the troops were to be furnished, which he thought ought to be generally from all parts of the kingdom, and that an obligation should be imposed upon those who should be balloted either to serve in person, or to find a substitute; and the better to preserve the general proportion, that this substitute should be provided either from the parish in which the person balloted should reside, or from a parish immediately adjoining. He proposed to train only one-sixth part of the whole at one time, by which only ten thousand at a time would be drawn from their usual occupations; consequently, it would not much infringe upon the general order of the community. Of course they were to be provided with some sort of uniform, but it might be of the coarsest kind, and such as might be purchased at a small expence. A sufficient number of arms were also to be in readiness, for supplying each man in the moment of danger.

The next measure which Mr. Pitt suggested to the committee, ⚫ was to provide a considerable force of irregular cavalry. He observed, that the regular cavalry on the

establishment was by no means inconsiderable, and that the yeomanry cavalry, which, from their numbers, were sufficiently respectable, had been proved to be highly useful in securing the quiet and maintaining the internal tranquillity of the country. But with a view to repelling an invasion, the farther this species of force was extended, the greater advantage was likely to accrue from it. Besides, it was a species of force which might be provided in a mode that would be attended with little expence to the public, and with small inconvenience to individuals He estimated the extent of the irregular cavalry by the number of horses which were kept for pleasure, throughout the kingdom. By pursuing this mode, the burden would fall upon those only who had a considerable stake in the country to defend. By the produce of the horse tax, the number of horses kept for pleasure in England, Scotland, and Wales, appeared to be about two hundred thousand. He therefore proposed, that every person who kept ten horses should be obliged to provide one horse and one horseman, to serve in a corps of cavalry; that those who kept more than ten should provide in the same proportion; and that those who kept fewer than ten should form themselves into classes, in which it should be decided by ballot who, at the common expence, should provide the horse and the horseman. These troops to be provided with a uniform and accoutrements, formed into corps, and put under proper officers..

The next class of men which the minister regarded as proper subjects for defending the country in case of invasion, was the gamekeepers. He therefore, proposed,

that

that those persons who had taken out licences to shoot game, or deputations for gamekeepers, should, within a certain period, be at liberty to return the same if they thought proper; but if after that period they should continue their licenses or deputations for gamekeepers, then they should be obliged to find substitutes. He observed that gentlemen might smile at the idea of raising a force by such means: but that smile would be converted into surprize when they heard that the number of persons who had taken out those licenses was 7000. The whole number of cavalry which he proposed to raise by the means he had mentioned, was 20,000.

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"Thus," said the Chancellor of the Exchequer, have I pointed out the means by which I propose to raise 15,000 men, to be divided between the land and the sea service; to raise a supplementary levy of 60,000 for the militia, and 20,000 cavalry." He concluded with moving, "that a bill be brought in for raising a certain number of men in the several counties of Great Britain for the service of his majesty."

bare assertions, instead of examining the measures of the executive government with extreme jealousy, a jealousy warranted and sanctioned by the constitution, they would demand some further satisfaction before they gave their unqualified assent to a project so new and un precedented. He contended, that the house ought to know that the belief of ministers of the danger of an invasion was well founded; and that the members who had been in the last parliament must remember how often ministers had in other cases, and under different pretences, created alarms merely to increase their own power; alarms which had been proved to have been groundless. If ministers considered the idle rant and rhodomontade speeches of any member of the legislature of France, as a sufficient manifestation of the project of an invasion, such grounds were too light and unsubstantial to found upon them measures of such importance, and replete with such inconveniences as the present. The idea of invasion was by no means new in that house; all had heard of invading France, and marching to Paris; a design expressed by a gentleman of great weight, and intimately connected with his majesty's ministers, and not contradicted by any member of administration, but even received with applause. Though this was openly asserted, yet the government of France did not regard the assertion as a manifestation of an intention to invade France, or adopt any measures in consequence of it. Mr. Sheridan thought it extraordinary, that, while reports prevailed out of doors that the French had experienced defeats in Germany, that they were likely to experience the same in Italy, and that their resources were nearly ex

Mr. Sheridan said, that he expected some explanation would have been given to the house by his majesty's ministers, of the actual necessity of adopting the measure just proposed by the chancellor of the exchequer. The house was called upon to impose heavy burdens upon the people, and to suspend the labour of a large part of the community, without being convinced of the necessity of either. If this parliament, he said, were not disposed to imitate the conduct of the last, to vote the money of the people, and to invest ministers with unbounded powers upon their

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hausted,

hausted, that at such a period ministers should come forward to propose means for augmenting the internal force of the nation as preparatory to repel an invasion from France while in such a state of weakness. He would not oppose the mode which the minister had proposed of raising 20,000 cavalry; he had no objection to see the gentlemen who amuse themselves in Hyde-Park, take an active part in the war; not that he was blind to the inconveniences that would attend the execution of the plan. There was another part of the measure to which he had a greater objection-he alluded to that part which related to game-keepers. Why these men should be singled out, he knew not; they were dispersed through the country, and it would not be easy to collect them together. "Why," said he, " because they may be expert in killing a partridge, are we to suppose that they are better calculated than others to kill a Frenchman?" He saw many difficulties, but in this choice of difficulties he for the present gave his assent to the proposition.

Mr. Dundas, after observing (in contradiction to some hints thrown out by Mr. Sheridan) that the last parliament would ever be held in the highest estimation for its glorious exertions in rescuing this country and all Europe from destruction, spoke to the explanation which that gentleman had demanded of his majesty's ministers respecting the propositions then before the house. He contended, that, whether the preparations then making in France would end in a descent upon this country or not, was impossible to determine; still the appearances of a disposition to make the attempt were sufficient to justify ministers in putting the nation

into a posture of defence. He gave it as his private opinion, that upon these means of defence it depended whether the projected invasion would be carried into execution or not. By shewing that every thing had been done to secure our internal safety, we demonstrated to the enemy the ruin with which their enterprize would be attended, and might induce them to abandon a design which presented no hopes of success.

Mr. Fox said, that in this stage of the business it was not the duty of any man to make opposition to the measure proposed; but from the sense he had of the general plan, there were many parts of it to the adoption of which no eloquence was likely to reconcile him. He contended, that if this measure was necessary to be adopted under our present circumstances, it was also necessary to have been adopted in 1756, in 1778, in 1794, and had been fit in every period in which this country had been engaged in a war. But for the necessity of this step the house had only the authority of the king's ministers, on whom he did not choose to rely. With respect to the panegyric pronounced upon the last parliament by the ministerial side of the house, Mr. Fox openly declared, that it had done more mischief to the interests of this country than any other that had ever sitten in it. He considered it as a curse to this nation. The leading principle upon which it acted was that which led directly to complete despotism. If the measure then before the house was necessary to our safety, it was the conduct of ministers and of a confiding parliament, which had rendered it so.

That part of the plan which referred to game-keepers, appeared to

him to be a violent and unjust measure, acting upon a class of persons who contributed considerably towards the support of the state. He concluded with observing, that he should oppose some parts of the plan when it came before the house in detail.

The chancellor of the exchequer replied to the arguments made use of by Mr. Sheridan and Mr. Fox. He was supported in his proposition by Sir William Pulteney, Mr. Elford, and by Mr. Serjeant Adair: he was opposed by Mr Sheridan, Mr. Fox, and by Mr. Curwen.

The first resolution was agreed to: the second resolution respecting the augmentation of the militia was also agreed to, and a bill ordered to be prepared and brought in for that purpose. The third resolution for raising a provisional force of cavalry was also ordered to be thrown into the form of a bill and introduced into the house.

This measure came again before the commons on the 25th of October, when the bill for raising a certain number of men in the several counties of the kingdom for the service of the army and navy, passed a committee of the whole house, and was ordered to be printed.

The bill for increasing the militia, &c. for the defence of the kingdom, was read a second time, and ordered to be committed to a committee of the whole house immediately. Mr. Rose moved, that it be an instruction to the committee that they might have power to make provision in the bill for enrolling in the militia all persons who were game-keepers. He observed also, that it was proposed, that all persons who had deputations for keeping game should be enrolled in case of necessity, unless they

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should at a given day give up their deputations; but they should not be called upon unless the militia should be embodied. He then brought up a clause respecting game-keepers. He said it was meant to affect only game-keepers who were really and actually serving as such; for that gentlemen taking out their licence to sport, should have power to find a substitute, to be approved of by the lord lieutenant." The clause proposed by Mr. Rose was then read, and made part of the bill, which then passed the committee.

On the 31st of October, upon a motion for re-committing the militia bill, a debate of considerable length took place, when Mr. Curwen opposed it with great strength of argument and elegance of expression He regarded the measure then before the house as a scheme to perpetuate that system of delusion which administration had so successfully practised for their own purposes of innovation and oppression.

It seemed strange that such steps should be proposed at the moment a negociation was on foot, the favourable termination of which he hoped nothing would occur on the part of this country to obstruct. He was convinced that the exertions which the country was then called upon to make, were designed by ministers for other purposes than those they had avowed. The state of the continent was certainly not so alarming as it had been at some former periods, and our navy was represented in his majesty's speech as having blocked up the enemy's fleets in their own ports for a considerable part of the year. Upon what then did our fears of invasion rest?

The chancellor of the exchequer contended, that every member of that house must feel a disposition

to

to act upon that pledge which they had so solemnly given on a former night in the address, to neglect no measure to repel the danger to which the country was exposed from the threatened invasion. The members had been told by those in a responsible situation, that ministers knew enough from intelligence to which they gave credit, to render it necessary for them to apprize the country of its danger, and to call upon it to exert its means of

defence.

Mr. Fox and Sir James Pulteney spoke against the bill. The former gentleman observed, that there was room to doubt the assertions of ministers upon that occasion, because there had been no ground for the original alarm which they had raised in 1792. The chancellor of the exchequer rose again and observed, that if the house agreed to the measure by adopting the present bill, he thought not a moment should be lost, but that this and the other bills should be passed as speedily as possible. For this purpose he proposed to pass them merely in the outline, with a clause in each, empowering the house to amend any part or parts of them at any time during the present session. He said a few words at the same time on the bill for embodying gamemuch keepers, which had been

misunderstood. It had been supposed that they were to be embodied and called out to be trained as the other parts of the militia were; but the case was otherwise, for, as they were already very expert at the use of the firelock, there would be no occasion to call them out till an invasion should actually take place, when they would be found a very useful body of men. On the st of November, on the report of the supplementary militia

bill several amendments were proposed and adopted. The chancellor of the exchequer, upon this occasion, introduced a clause to exempt persons belonging to the artillery company and the cinqueport corps from the operation of the bill, together with several other associated corps.

On the clause proposing that the operation of the bill should continue during the war, and three months after, Mr. Sheridan observed, that it was probable that the war might still be protracted long after any alarm of invasion had ceased. This bill was only intended to secure the country from the dangers of invasion. He therefore proposed, that the bill should continue only two months in force after the meeting of the next session of parliament. To this Mr. Fitt replied, that when once the men had been trained for twenty days, the hardships with respect to them ceased; it could therefore be no inconvenience to retain them on the footing proposed by the bills. To keep them, when once balloted, in readiness to be called out in case of emergency during the war, might be a source of additional strength. and confidence to the country The amendment of one month after the war was adopted.

Mr. Sheridan proposed an amendment to the bill, for the purpose of doing away a distinction in consequence of a difference of religion. In the oath taken by those who served in the militia, they were required to swear that they were protestants. This was an exclusion of Roman catholics, inconsistent with the liberty of the age. We ought to recollect how many of that description were in Ireland, whom it was policy in ministers to conciliate. He then moved an amend

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