HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



^9 



wHling to part, and to tender tliem. 

 I it' the men, so tendered, were to 

 ', amount to 4-5ths of the quota of 

 his regiment, it should be released 

 from all further claims, if, on the 

 exi)iration of the term allowed, the 

 proportion of 4-5ths of the quota 

 should not be furnished, the com- 

 manding officer should have the 

 power of setting apart one half of 

 the regiment, to constitute the foun- 

 dation of the regiment that was to 

 rcnjain to him : the other half was 

 to be handed over to government, 

 to take from it the portion of volun- 

 teers to whicli it was entitled, the 

 remainder to be given back to com- 

 lete the regiment. If a greater 

 number volunteered than govern- 

 ment was entitled to, the remainder 

 to be given back to complete the 

 regiment. For instance, in a regi- 

 ment of lOOO, to be reduced to 7OO, 

 the commanding officer may set 

 aside 500 men, to whom no offer 

 could be made, and who Avere to 

 remain with him, without any dis- 

 turbance whatever. From the 

 other 500, government Avould take 

 its quota, and the remainder was to 

 be restored to the commanding 

 officer, to form his regiment at the 

 reduced establishment. Out of 

 68,000 men, the present amount of 

 the effective militia, SijOOO were to 

 be set aside to remain untouched, ns 

 the foundation of the 51,000, Avhich 

 would form the whole of the re- 

 duced militia. When government 

 should hare taken its proportion of 

 the other 34,000, that was one half of 

 it, the remainder should be restored, 

 and if 4-5ths of that proportion 

 were provided, and offered at the 

 time limited, thu regiments would 

 remain undisturbed, by any further 

 call. Thus did he set out on a 

 proposition, that did iioi detract 



from the character, nor lower the 

 pride of the militia; that left no 

 room for jealously to the command- 

 ing officers, and that seemed the 

 best calculated to meet the desire* 

 and wishes of the persons con- 

 cerned. He concluded with moving 

 for leave to bring in a bill, for al- 

 lowing a certain proportion of the 

 militia of Great Britain, to enlist 

 into his majesty's regular forces. 



Lord Temple thought this pro- 

 portion the best possible proof of 

 the insufficiency of the defence bill, 

 the repeal of which had been so 

 violently opposed. It was found 

 that the former would not raise the 

 men, and now they were to be fur- 

 nished by an act of gross injustice, 

 accompanied by breach of faith. To 

 prove the injustice it would be suf- 

 ticient to say, that the first vacancy 

 that occurred, after the passing of 

 this bill, would revive the ballot, so 

 much deprecated by the right ho- 

 nourable gentleman, and the neces- 

 sity of which he boasted that his 

 own bill would supercede. In a 

 former administration, the right 

 lioitourable gentleman ])lcdgcd him- 

 self, that no further encroachments 

 should be made on the militia. This 

 pledge was repeated by his late suc- 

 cessor and ji.'-esent colleague, and 

 reiterated by himself, on the pro- 

 duction of his parish bill. He thea 

 stated, that recruiting parties, from 

 the first battalion of guards, had 

 gone down to seduce the men of the 

 militia regiment, which he himself 

 was colonel of, from their present 

 service, and that, in answer to a 

 letter sent to him on that subject, 

 the colonel of the battalion alluded 

 to avowed that to be their object. 

 After this measure, every uew va- 

 cancy would operate as a tax on 

 the landed int«rwt, and having seen 



the 



