HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



29 



OntheSth, 10th, and 1 1th* of 

 May, his majesty, to the infinite 

 "gratification of the inhabitants of 

 the, metropolis, drove through the 

 principal streets of London and 

 Westminster, accompanied by her 

 majesty and the princesses. But it 

 was many months + before his ma- 

 jesty could enjoy the solace of his 

 domestic circle, or that it was deem- 

 ed prudent to submit to liiai the re- 

 port of the prisoners under sentence 

 o( death, a vast accumulation of 

 whom, the unfortunate calamity we 

 have just related, had unavoidably 

 occasioned. 



The first business of importance 

 which occupied the attention of 

 parliament, after the Christmas re- 

 cess, was the bill which Mr. secre- 

 tary Yorke brought forward in the 

 house of commons, for the coHsoli- 

 dation and explanation of the exii,t- 

 ing laws respecting the volunteers. 

 In introducing his motion, he de- 

 precated all parfy animosity in the 

 discussion of the question, and en- 

 tered on an historical account of the 

 origin of the plan. The system, he 

 said, was introduced under lord 

 Shelburne's.adniinistration, was re- 

 vived in 1794, and appeared stiii 

 more necessary now than at any for- 

 mer period. From thembnient, that 

 this new system was considered by 

 the legislature, necessary to meet 

 the new circumstances of the times, 

 the exemptions were considered as 

 absolutely necessary to its existence. 

 The number of volunteers in Great 

 Britain amounted to 150,000 in the 

 course of the last war, and a very 

 short time after the act passed for 

 training and arraying his majesty's 

 subjedsj the voluntary oilers of 



service amounted to near 400,000, 

 and, consequently, the compulsory 

 clauses of that act were suspended. 

 If a doubt had been entertained of 

 the powers of the volunteers to re^ 

 sign, that doubt would be done 

 away by the present bill. There 

 was another point in which it was 

 absolutely necessary that the law 

 should be exjdicit. In the first for- 

 mation of the different corps, they 

 were usually allowed to elect their 

 officers, but the exercise of this 

 power, in filling up vacancies which 

 might afterwards occur, would be 

 highly dangerous, and was not re- 

 cognized by any act. It should 

 now tlierel ore be clearly understood, 

 that the volunteers had no such 

 power. After pointing out a va- 

 rict}- of alterations which he propos- 

 ed, in the manner of granting the 

 exemptions, he submitted to the 

 house, whether it were not better, 

 under the present circumstances, to 

 continue the volunteer system, evea 

 with all its necessary defects, than 

 to abandon it, in order to find out 

 something else that might sound bet- 

 ter in theory, but might turn out 

 much worse in practice. 



Mr. Skeridan conceived it would 

 be quibbling with the judgment, 

 and violating the implied compact 

 with the volunteers, to insist that 

 they were not entitled to recom- 

 mend persons to be their oflBcers for 

 the future, in the same manner that 

 they had done from the commence- 

 ment. There were some of the 

 corps, who, in their original offers 

 of service, which were accepted un. 

 conditionally, expressly meationed 

 this privilege of electing, or, rather, 

 recommending their officers. He 



• On the l^th Mr. Pitt was appointed minister, 

 t Vide " Cbionide'' for November, p. 431. 



hoped 



