94 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1804. 



speedily augmcntinj^ the regular 

 army. He, therefore, oj^poscd the 

 secoiici reading. 



Mr. Sturgess Brovrne supported 

 the bill, upon nearly the same 

 grounds with the chancellor of the 

 exchequer. 



Mr. Bastard Mt a considerable 

 deal of constitutional jealousy, of a 

 measure, which, like this, professed 

 to be permanent. He preferred 

 much, the constitutional defence of 

 the militia, to this new force, which 

 tras to be put in its place. He liked 

 a defensive force, commanded by 

 the independent gentlemen of tlie 

 country, better than a force com- 

 manded by officers, serving merely 

 for pa)\ He thought he could see 

 jjs much tardiness and inelTi,ciency in 

 the present ministers, as they had 

 themselves imputed to their prede- 

 cessors. 



Air. Bankes supported the bill, 

 and particularly rejoiced, that the 

 odious and oppressirc principle of 

 the ballot was to be done away. 



Mr. Atkins Wright disapproved 

 of making the parish officers recruit- 

 ing Serjeants, and of the circuitous 

 vay of raising one kind of force, in 

 order to get another of a diflcrent 

 description. 



INIr. Ellison and colonel Mitford 

 opposed the bill, and sir John 

 Wroltesly supported it. After seve- 

 ral other genfiemen had shortly de- 

 livered their opinions, 



Mr. Windham replied, to the ar- 

 guments of thi' different members 

 ■who had upheld the measnie. He 

 denied that the principle of compul- 

 sion was excluded frou" the present 

 bill, for the tines upon the ))arishes 

 acted as a screw, to force them to 

 proper exertions, and to punish 

 them, if their exertions proved not 

 to be successful. \V hen he was 

 called upon for his plan, he should 



again repeat, that his plan was 

 merely to get rid of the evils and 

 obstacles that now stand in the way 

 of recruiting for the regular army ; 

 and he was convinced that then we 

 should never want soldiers. He en- 

 tirely disapproved of the motion of 

 this limited force. He thought, that 

 to make a military nation, all mili- 

 tary decorations, honours, and ad- 

 vantages, should be given exclusively 

 to those who were to meet the dan- 

 gers of war ; and not to those A^iho 

 Avcre to stay at home, and not see 

 the face of an enemv. He disa|)- 

 proved, also, of those second bat- 

 talions being formed, merely for the 

 purpose of recruiting the first, or of 

 the electioneering sort of discipline 

 that must be used in those battalions, 

 that arc raised for such a purpose. 

 He had heard much of the connex- 

 ion between church and state, but 

 this plan established a new con- 

 nexion bet^vccu church and army, 

 in making church wardens turn 

 crimps, and making recruiting the 

 subject of discussion at the parish 

 vestry. The best way of getting a 

 regular army was, to remove com- 

 l)etition, to allow the soldiers more 

 comforts, and to provide liberally 

 for those whom wounds, or length 

 of service, obliged to retire. — 

 Such was the practical plan that he 

 sho'.dd pro])ose. instead of the wild 

 and visionary theories" which had 

 been adopted by others. 



The Chancellor of the Exchequer 

 replied, at some length, to the dif- 

 ferent objections Mhich had been 

 made to this bill. He exprest some 

 siirjjrise at the nnqualified opposi. 

 tion given to it by Air. Wind- 

 ham, Avhen the two great objec- 

 tio'i.s which he had before made, 

 namely, the ballot, and tiie high 

 bounties v\ere both, by it, com- 

 pletely done away. The reason of 



hi> 



