56 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1804. 



consideration the report on the vo- 

 lunteer consolidation bill. 



'^L^neral Tarleton said, it had been 

 long his opinion, that it was abso- 

 lutely necessary for this country, to 

 keep up a large military establish- 

 ment. He thought the volunteers 

 might do well to repel a sudden in- 

 vasion ; but that they could not be 

 depended upon for the permanent 

 defence of the country. He men- 

 tioned some strong instances of in- 

 subordination, which came to his 

 knowledge. 



The proviso, which prevented 

 any volunteer from the power of 

 resignmg, who belonged to a corps 

 " that had oHered its services dur- 

 ing the war," Avas omitted in the 

 amended bill, on the motion of Mr. 

 Cartwright. 



After some conversation, in which 

 several members took a share, the 

 Speaker put the question on the se- 

 cond reading of the amendments. 



Mr. Fox opposed the second read- 

 ing, not that he wished to throw 

 out the bill ; he only wished that it 

 should be re-committed. Without 

 adverting to the volunteer system, 

 it appeared to him that ministers 

 had thought of no other ; and, al- 

 tho' parliament had been sitting for 

 four months, the bill before the house 

 was the only measure ministers had 

 taken for the defence of the coun- 

 try : and what was there to-he seen 

 in this bill ? No steps had been 

 taken to recruit the army, but every 

 thing had been rested on the volun- 

 teers. In (a6t, the chief merit of 

 this bill was, that it did nothing! — 

 He so lar iik 'd the volunteer sys- 

 tem, that he approved of the cou- 

 rage, zeal, and spiri: of those men 

 who composed it; but he defied any 

 body to say, that that courage and 

 zeal would be at all assisted by the 



present bill. He thought ministers 

 had done every thing to check and 

 damp the ardour of the volunteers, 

 and nothing to assist it. As to the 

 power of resignation, the chancel- 

 lor of the exchequer, as usual, had 

 no opinion; he consulted the at- 

 torney general, whose opinion w as a 

 wrong onc,and that opinion ministers 

 immediately circulated through the 

 country, with uncommon diligence. 

 After the court of king's bench had 

 decided that the opinion was a.wrong 

 one, then, and not before, they 

 said tliey did not mean to adt upon 

 it! When the insignificance of the 

 present bill was considered, people 

 would be apt to suppose, that the 

 story of invasion was a mere inven- 

 tion of ministers, and, that if they 

 really believed it, they would have 

 taken some measures to recruit their 

 regular army. Although he him- 

 self did not believe the danger so 

 great as was represented, yet, when 

 he compared the danger with the 

 preparations for defence, it was 

 enough to make him tremble. He 

 had, however, such confidence in 

 the spirit of the country, that he 

 firmly trusted, that, in spite of all 

 the opposition it met, it would rise 

 superior, not only to the efforts of 

 the enemy, but even to the weak- 

 ness, the incapacity, and imbecility 

 of the present ministers. 



The Attorney General was against 

 the re-commitment of the bill, on 

 the ground of its having been so 

 often discussed. 



Dr. Lawrence, and sir John 

 Wrottesley, were for its being re- 

 committed. 



Mr. Pitt owned, that the present 

 bill came very far short of his ex- 

 pectations, or what he conceived to 

 be the just expectation of the coun- 

 try. He hardly saw any advantage 



iv 



