44 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1805. 



to make that defence more com- 

 plete. In this motion, he said, he 

 must confidently call lor the sup- 

 port of the right honourable gentle- 

 man opposite to him (Mr. Pitt) and 

 his friends, as they thought snch a re- 

 view necessary in June last, and as no 

 alteration had taken placf, either by 

 the diminution of the enemy's force, 

 or the increase of our relative 

 strength, -which could render it now 

 unnecessary. He stated at large the 

 disadvantages of the ballots, raising 

 men for rank, and the various modes 

 of recruiting heretofore resorted to. 

 One great objection to our mili- 

 tary establishment, was its variety. 

 Variety in nature was verj' pleasing, 

 but he did not so much like it in 

 military establishments. If volun- 

 teers were best, Avhy not all volun- 

 teers? If militia best, why not all 

 militia? If regulars best, why not 

 all regulars ? If the army of reserve 

 best, why not all army of reserve ? 

 He then examined the constitution 

 of these four different armies, from 

 which he contended that they were 

 inconsistent with economy ; that 

 they interfered with each other; and 

 that they counteracted the general 

 means of recruiting, without afford- 

 ing a sufficient basis for such a per- 

 manent force, as the situation of 

 this country required. The right 

 honourable gentleman, proceeding in 

 that style of wit and humour which 

 he so eminently excels in, gave many 

 •whimsical but strong illustrations of 

 the inadequacy of this mixed and va- 

 ried force. That the volunteers 

 looked like an army was very true : 

 but still they were tfot an army. 

 Nothing was more like a man than 

 his picture, but the picture was not 

 a man. The number of men who 

 had entered by the circuitous route 

 of the army of rcseryc, afforded, he 



said, no proof whatever of its effi- 

 cacy. It might as well be said that 

 all the members of that house were 

 produced by the lobby, when there 

 was no other way of getting into it. 

 It was a kind of turnpike, where 

 soldiers did not pay, but were paid 

 for j^assing through it. The exist- 

 ing bill he compared to a great 

 boiler or difi;cster, with innumerable 

 capillary tubes, running inio every 

 pa'isb in the kingdom. It could no 

 more ;i:sc men by meav.s of the 

 parish olficers, than it could make a 

 horse drink by taking him to the 

 river. It was like liarbquin's 

 horse, which had but one fault, and 

 that was, that he was dead. Having 

 dwelt at great length on the errors 

 of the present military system, he 

 went on to state the manner in which 

 he conceived it might be amended, 

 and in doing this he considered the mi- 

 litary life as a trade, and government 

 the trader. As such it was the bu- 

 siness of the trader to hold out 

 all the inducements in his power to 

 make liis trade flourish. Men were 

 found to go down and work in damp 

 and unhealthy mines in Cornwall 

 and Derbyshire, by giving them pro- 

 per encouragement. A soldier, in- 

 deed, was not sure of a very long 

 life, but his occupation was healthier 

 , than most others, and had great at- 

 tractiwns for the young, ardent, and 

 high-spirited. As to the officers, he 

 thought their rank*:, honours, and 

 distinctions, should be confined ex- 

 clusively to themselves, instead of 

 being indiscriminately given to mi- 

 litia, volunteers, &c. Military dis- 

 tinction was of intrinsic value, be- 

 cause it implied intrinsic merit in 

 the person who possessed it. He 

 also recommended enlistment for a 

 limited time, and an improvement in 

 the pay and condition of the infe- 

 rior 



