HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



69 



war, for general service, and who 

 distinguished themselves so much in 



Colonel Calcraft opposed the 

 measure, as ho thought there was no 

 . siiflicient grounds laid of such an 

 expediency, as justified the aban- 

 donment of the great constitutional 

 principle by which the militia of 

 each country was raised. 



Mr. Alexander supported the 

 measure. Ho said, that as the Bou- 

 logne flotilla could not be used for 

 the invasion of Ireland, that coun- 

 try njight spare the number of men 

 who now offered their services ; and 

 he considered, that if the ofler was 

 acceptetl, it would be of the most 

 important advantage, in setting an 

 etfual portion of the disposeablc 

 force at liberty. 



Mr. Bankes thought, that giving 

 much encouragement to such volun- 

 tary ofl'ers, would disorganize and 

 destroy the military system, by 

 making that service more irksome 

 and objectionable than it Avould 

 otherwise have been. 



Colonel Hutchinson supported 

 the measure, principally because he 

 thought it would be of great ad- 

 vantage to the individuals (whe- 

 ther oflTicers or privates) who should 

 come over, to witness the superior 

 comforts of the peoi)le of this coun- 

 try : that, on their return, they 

 might endeavour to' introduce simi- 

 lar coniforts into Ireland. 



Mr. Canning denied, that Ireland 

 could sjjare ten thousand militia, or 

 That England stood in need of them : 

 he therefore opposed the bill. 



Colonel Verekcr was confident, 

 that if i'lngland were invaded, every 

 regiment of Irish militia would be 

 anxious to volunteer in its defence; 

 but while Ireland was in, at least, 

 as much danger as Englaod, and 



perhaps more vulnerable, he did not 

 see the great merit in Irish regi- 

 ments volunteering for England. 



Mr. Windham said, that the case 

 of the English militia volunteering 

 in 1798, when a rebellion was rag- 

 ing in Ireland, was a case toto caio 

 different from the present ; and al- 

 though he then thought, that the 

 constitutional principle of confiaing 

 the militia to limited service ought 

 to be relaxed, yet it did not follow, 

 that he was bound always to sup- 

 port a similar measure, especially 

 wken there was no such exigency ex- 

 isting. It Mas a marvellous effort 

 of ingenuity, to endeavour to create 

 a disposeable force, by merely trans- 

 ferring a portion of troops, that 

 Mere not disposeable, from one 

 island to the other ! The proposi- 

 tion of increasing the Irish militia, 

 by eight or 10,000 additional troops, 

 would also operate against the re- 

 cruiting for general service in that 

 country, by creating a competition. 



Lord Castlereagh denied, that ex- 

 perience Marranted the supposition 

 of the recruiting service for the 

 army being hurt by the increase of 

 the militia. 



Mr. T. Grenvillc opposed the 

 principle of the bill, and thought 

 that the offer did not so much pro- 

 ceed from the spontaneous feeling of 

 the Irish militia, as from the sober 

 deliberation of the cabinet, who liad 

 agreed to it as a government mea- 

 sure. He thought, that offers of 

 this nature might be procured by 

 means which differed little from ac- 

 tual violence. 



Lord de Blaquiere was surprised, 

 that there could be a doubt about 

 the propriety of accepting the vo- 

 luntary offer of the Irish militia. 

 He thought, that the rejecting thera 

 M'ould appear like a contumelious 



F 3 disdain 



