HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



65 



to give a detailed statement of the 

 military state of the country. The 

 total of the regular force, on tlie 

 1st of this month (including the mi- 

 litia and artillery) amounted to 

 267,013 men ; on the fir'?t of Octo- 

 ber, 1801, the effedlive strength of 

 the army amounted to "279.000, 

 which was about twelve thou- 

 sand more than it did at present, 

 although the war had only lasted 

 ten mutiths. The force of the coun- 

 try in April, 1803, immediately 

 previous to the rupture with Fr.^'ice, 

 was 124,343 men. After stating, 

 at some length, the exertions that 

 ministers had made for the defence 

 of the country, he went on to con- 

 sider the state of our offensive and 

 disposeable force. He admitted 

 that grear pains ought now to be 

 lalten, in recruiting for the regu- , 

 lar army, and he so far agreed 

 with the arguments of honorirable 

 gentlemen on the other side, that 

 all competition with the recruiting 

 for the regular army should be re- 

 moved. The militia was now nearly 

 filled np, and as the army of re- 

 serve had nearly accompli>:hcd all 

 tliat was expected from it, he 

 thouglit it might now be necessary 

 to suspend its operation. It must, 

 however, be recollet^ted, that above 

 ten thousand men had already vo- 

 lunteered from the ariuy of reserve 

 into the regular force. For the 

 purpose of encouraging the recruit- 

 ing Sjjrvice, he wished to suspend 

 for a "time the army of reserve aft, 

 and at present, while he wished to 

 accept of the services of the ten 

 thousand Irish militia, he wished 

 to increase that body to the same 

 number that they were at in the 

 last war, namely, twenty-eight thou- 

 sand men. 



Mr. Pitt said, that as to the num. 



Vol. XLVI. 



bers of men raised in the present 

 war, they were abundantly sufficient 

 to meet any reasonable man's expec- 

 tations ; but the degree of efliciency 

 that was given to the numbers so 

 raised, was a subject which might 

 be discussed on a future day. He 

 was satisfied with the magnitude of 

 our force in a collective view, but 

 he thought it necessary to pursue a 

 better system, for the increase of 

 our disposeable force. He consi- 

 dered, however, that it would be 

 necessary to have some thing like 

 the arm/ of reserve operating in 

 every county. It had been found 

 that many persons had been induced 

 to enter into the army of reserve, 

 because the service was limited, 

 and \ et. after they had been in it 

 for some time, and had contracted 

 military habits, they were easily 

 persuaded to extend tlieir services, 

 and enter into the regular army. — 

 He therefore thoaght that not only 

 as a temporary expedient, but as a 

 measure of permanent policy, it 

 %vou]d still be necessary, in some 

 degree, to keep up the principle of 

 the army of reserve. He concluded 

 by again throwing out the ideas he 

 had formerly stated, of uniting, as 

 much as possible, the battalions of 

 the army of reserve to the regulars, 

 so as to encourage enlisting from 

 limited to general service. 



Mr. Windham was pcrfcftly dis- 

 posed to vote the address of thanks 

 to his majesty, and to express his 

 approbation of the conduct of the 

 Irish militia; but still he had great 

 objeftions to the adoption of the 

 plan proposed. In the first place, 

 he did not like encouraging those 

 v.iluntary otTers of extending the 

 service beyond the original terms, 

 because it would operate as a breach 

 of falth^ and as a coiopulsory mea- 



F &uie 



