58 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1804. 



There was another species of de- 

 fence, which had been almost en- 

 tircly neglected, he meant I'ortifica- 

 tions. The great objection that he 

 had to the volunteer system, was, 

 that, by tlie confession of ministers 

 theniscJTCS, it did not include one- 

 fourth of that class which princi- 

 pally formed the strength of a na- 

 tion. He then argued, at great 

 length, on the importance of hav- 

 ing as large a regular army as pos- 

 sible, and of employing, as irregu- 

 lars, the armed peasantry of the 

 country, instead of a volunteer 

 force. 



After a considerable cry of ques- 

 tion, question, 



Mr. Windham rose, and said he 

 ■was not surprised at the anxiety of 

 ministers to get rid of the business. 

 Perhaps, by their not attempting 

 to answer what had fallen from liis 

 honourable friend, (colonel Craw- 

 ford) they might mean to imply, 

 that there was nothing new in tlic 

 arguments that he had adduced. It 

 anight be true, that those arguments 

 were not altogether new ; but it was 

 equally true, that they had never 

 been refuted. As this was, per- 

 haps, the last time that the subject 

 would come before the house, ho 

 could not avoid taking the oppor- 

 tanity of protesting against the 

 principle of it, as one which might 

 lead to our utter ruin. lie utterly 

 denied, that the danger we had now 

 to provide against, w as merely of a 

 temporary nature, and to be guard- 

 ed against by temporary expedients. 

 He considered it as a great and in- 

 creasing danger, which could only 

 be effeiituaily averted by a perma- 

 nent, well-organised system of mili- 

 tary defence. The most impor- 

 tant clause of this bill, the eiviiig 

 exemptions to the volunteers, ccr- 



1 



tainly added nothing to their mili- 

 tary im]novemcnl, and w as only in- 

 tended as a means of continuing the 

 volunteer system ; but, while this 

 clause gave men to the volunteers, 

 it withdrew them from other ser- 

 vices, lie felt convinced, that the 

 country would have been in a 

 greater state of securitj , if none of 

 those volunteer bills had pa.ssed. 

 lie neither considered that the im- 

 provement of the volunteer system 

 was the best measure for the pre- 

 sent defence of the country, nor 

 that the present bill was likely to 

 increase the force of the volunteer 

 establishment. Zeal was not a prin- 

 ciple which could be altogether de- 

 pended on. A permanent system 

 must be founded on interest and 

 fear ; there must be inducements on 

 the one side, and penalties on the 

 other. He must still continue to 

 think, that it was extremely dange- 

 rous to leave large bodies of armed 

 men on foot, that were not subicct 

 to military law. Tlie volunteers 

 had already so far shewn their 

 strength, as to gain a complete tri- 

 umph over ministers, who appeared 

 not to venture to stir a step without 

 taking their opinions. The trea- 

 sury bench appeared to think, that 

 the best way of silencing a member, 

 was to excite a popular clamour 

 against hiui, but, that should never 

 jirevent him from delivering his opi- 

 nions. The exemptions had already 

 made the army of reserve stop 

 14,000 short of the number it 

 was originally intended. The ad- 

 vantage of tliose exemptions was so 

 great, when it was considered w hat 

 classes of men the ballot usually fell 

 on, that it was a power too great 

 to lodge in the hands of the indivi- 

 duals, or committees, %vho managed . 

 tlie volunteer corps. The injustice 



and 



