HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



23 



rather appeared his duty to hare 

 had the garrison in the best state of 

 preparation for putting it down. — 

 After the alTair of the 23d of Ju- 

 ly, there was a coolness between 

 the lord lieutenant and general 

 Fox, which made it almost necessary 

 that one of them should resign. 



After some explanations between 

 Mr. Fox, admiral Berkeley, and 

 INIr. secretary Yorke, 



Mr. Corry, who had been in Ire- 

 land at the time of the insurrection, 

 and made the most diligent enquiries 

 concerning it, stated, that the in- 

 ifcrview between the lord lieutenant 

 and the commander in chief, on the 

 23d of July, could be proved, when 

 the same information was laid before 

 both of them, and certainly it did 

 appear more the duty of the com- 

 mander in chief to take the military 

 precautions that were necessary. 

 Although the insurrection of that 

 day was contemptible, yet the con- 

 spiracy existing was formidable, and 

 fully justified the measures Avhich 

 had been taken. 



Colonel Hutchinson spoke with 

 great warmth on the impropriety of 

 excluding the prince of Wales, at a 

 period like the present, from shar- 

 ing the danger and the glory of de- 

 fending the country. 



The resolutions proposed by Mr, 

 secretary Yorke were then seve- 

 rally put and agreed to by the corn- 

 mil tee. 



On the 10th of December, Mr. 

 secretary Yorke moved for leave to 

 bring in a bill to regulate and ex- 

 plain the exemptions to be given to 

 roluntecrs from serving in the mili- 

 tia, or army of reserve. The ob- 

 ject of the bill would be, to secure 

 exemptions to those who were en- 

 titled to them, and to preventabuses 

 in granting them to those who were 

 not. Leave was accordingly given. 



On the 19th of December, the 

 house of commons resolved itself 

 into a committee on the volunteer- 

 amendment bill. When ]Mr. secre- 

 tary Yorke observed, that a good 

 deal of the confusion with respe6l to 

 the right of exemptions, proceeded 

 from the commanding officers not 

 having made their returns at the time 

 appointed by law. Many of them 

 were prevented from making the re- 

 turns, fo'r want of the arms being 

 distributed, which made it impossi- 

 ble to certify that the members of 

 their respestive corps attended, arm- 

 ed and accoutred. The present bill 

 was to remedy those defects. The 

 number of days which it would be 

 necessary to have attended, for the 

 purpose of claiming an exemption 

 from service, in the army of reserve 

 or militia, would be twenty-five. 



Mr. Pitt said, it was impossible 

 for a commanding officer to return 

 his men properly armed and effec- 

 tive, if, instead of muskets, they 

 were only armed with pikes or 

 pitch- forks. 



Mr. secretary Yorke replied, 

 that if government should think, 

 proper to change the mode of arm- 

 ing the volunteers, and give the rear 

 rank pikes, that the commanding 

 officers should still return them as 

 having attended properly armed. 



Sir William Young thought there 

 ought to be a distindtion made be- 

 tween the two classes of volunteers. 

 Those who entered before the adl 

 for a general array, did so from pa- 

 triotic zeal ; whereas, the greater 

 number who came in after the act^, 

 were the peasantry of the country, 

 who joined the volunteers merely 

 to save themselves from moreeflec- 

 tivc service ; of course, not entitled 

 to exemption. 



Lord Granville Leveson Gower 



C 4 stated, 



