LON 
of offences. A man was not to be puniffied for a bare 
intention with the lame feverity as for an actual commiflion. 
What was neceffary to constitute an offence was here want¬ 
ing : there was no malut animus ; no corrupt defign ap¬ 
peared in the whole tranfaCtion. The noble lord afted 
not in his official capacity, but as an individual wifning 
to oblige his friend. Officially he had committed no of¬ 
fence, and the degree of puniffiment ought to be propor¬ 
tioned to the degree of guilt. On thefe grounds lord 
Binning moved, that the other orders of the day be now 
read. On much the fame grounds as thofe dated by lord 
Binning, lord Caltlereagh was defended by the Chancellor 
of the Exchequer, Mr. Manners Sutton, and Mr. Canning. 
Mr. Wynn, Mr. Grattan, Mr. Ponfonby, Mr. Whitbread, 
and Mr. Windham, fupporred the motion of cenfure. 
Mr. Canning faid, he perceived, that every gentleman 
who had fpoken entertained a due fenfe of the manner 
in which his noble friend had conducted his defence, and 
did not with to prefs any fevere fentence upon him. To 
this confideration was to be added another, namely, that 
the intention of the noble lord was never carried into ex¬ 
ecution. The voting for paffmg to the other orders of the 
day was, according to parliamentary ufage, a way of flow¬ 
ing that the houfe had taken a cafe into confideration, 
the refult of which had been, that they did not think it 
ueceffary to come to any criminating refolution. In or¬ 
der, however, to exprefs this opinion more clearly in the 
prefent cafe, he would rather with that, inltead of a vote 
for palling to the other orders of the day, a refolution 
flrould be fubltituted, declaring that the houfe faw no rea- 
fon for a criminating refolution. When therefore the 
queftion before them (hould be difpofed of, he would fub- 
mit to the houfe the following refolution : “That it is 
the duty of this houfe to maintain a jealous guard over 
the purity and independence of parliament; but that this 
Iioufe, duly weighing the evidence before it, and all the 
circumftances of the cafe, and considering that the inten¬ 
tion referred to in that evidence was nevercarried into ef¬ 
fect, does not think it neceffary to come to a criminating 
refolution on the lame." On adivilionof the houfe there 
appeared, for the original motion, 167; againftit, 216. Af¬ 
ter this, Mr. Canning’s refolution was carried. 
The preceding inquiries into the abufe of patronage are 
fufficient to (how, that a community of fo immenfe a po¬ 
pulation as the Englilh metropolis cannot but be much 
interested in every objeft which relates to the national 
army.—A difcullion took place in this feffion, in the houfe 
of commons, relative to the meafures adopted or advifa- 
ble for the augmentation of the regular army, the necef- 
fity of which was intimated in his majefty's l'peech at the 
opening of the feffion. So early, therefore, as the id of 
February, lord Caltlereagh role in the houfe of commons 
to move the fecond reading of the militia-inliftment-bill. 
.—Mr. Elliot wilhed to know the rate of bounties pro- 
pofed by his noble friend. Lord Caltlereagh anfwered, 
from fix to eleven guineas. Mr. Elliot faid, that this bill 
afforded a Striking kffon to the houfe and the country, of 
the evil confequences of adopting a bad precedent. Here¬ 
tofore, previoully to the introduction of a Similar bill, 
there was much of detail and preparatory communication 
with colonels of regiments ; but, the former meafure of 
his noble friend having been adopted, he relied that, in 
this too, he fiiouid be fucoefsful. But he did molt de¬ 
cidedly condemn the principle of a bill, the operation 
of which would inevitably tend to the diffolution of all 
difeipline, both in the regular army and militia, as well 
as to the injury of morality throughout the country ; for 
fucii would be the effect of high bounties given to the 
recruits from the militia to the line, and to the fubftitutes 
who were to fill their piaces in the militia, as had been 
fully evinced by experience. By the prefent bill, the mi¬ 
litia-officers were required to recruit at a bounty of ten 
guineas, for which, it was obvious, that, under the pre¬ 
fent (yltem of bounties, men could not be hail ; but then 
there was the expedient of a little ballot^ in cal's the bounty 
VpL. XIII. No. 901. 
DON. 209 
Should fail, to be infliCled on the county where the quota 
of men could not be induced to lift within a given period. 
And then, as a remedy, to the balloted men who could 
net find a Subftitute at half-price, ten guineas were to be 
given in aid. But this ballot, coming on the heels of 
that for the local militia, could not fail to create general 
difeontent, inafmuch as it was not a regular tax, but mu ft 
weigh oppreffively on individuals. Mr. Elliot compared 
the effects of lord Caftlereagh’s plan with that of Mr. 
Windham, which propofed to recruit men for limited fer- 
vice, inftead of fervice for life; a plan, the principle of 
which was founded on the feelings of human nature. 
He was ready to admit, that, for the Sirft four or five 
months it was in operation, the preference for unlimited 
fervice preponderated. But if was a faCt, that, out of 
27,000 men, raifed in 1807 for general fervice, about 
19,000.were for limited time ; a clear proof that, had 
that principle been adhered to, the country would not 
only have avoided all the evils experienced under the bal- 
loting-fyftem, but that the force of the line would have 
been increafed to any extent neceffary, with a faving of 
nearly one half the expenS'e of bounties. 
Mr. Calcraft alfo defended and praifed the military 
fyftem of Mr. Windham, which had produced, while in 
force, a fupply of nearly 24,000 men annually; a fupply 
as great as the circumftances of the population of this 
country would admit of. Mr. W’s fyftem had not had a 
fair trial. This was the fourth instance in which the mi¬ 
litia had been drafted to fupply the army; a pradtice 
which had driven qualified officers out of the militia. 
He did not think it portable to recruit the militia by the 
bounty propofed by lord Caftlereagh. 
Colonel Frankland faid, that lord Caftlereagh’s plan of 
recruiting had a tendency to create diforganization and 
difguSl in the home-fervice, and to keep up all this when 
created. He prail'ed the admirable, deeply-founded, and 
permanent, fyftem of Mr. Windham ; and obferved, that 
it.was impossible to difeufs fuch meafures as that propofed 
without taking a view of that fyliem. All circumftances 
that bore upon the queftion were to be considered ; and 
upon the whole he thought that lord C’s fyftem of expe¬ 
dients was the molt inefficient and burthenfome that could 
be reforted to. 
Lord Caftlereagh faid, that minifters, in the meafure* 
which they propofed for augmenting the army, had al¬ 
ways two objects in view. Firft, to increafe the difpofa? 
ble force 3 fecondly, to take care that the defenfive force 
Should be fo Strong, as that the country (hould net be ex- 
pofed to peril from the exertions which his majefty’s go¬ 
vernment might think it their duty to recommend for the 
aSfiftance of other nations. There were in the army, or¬ 
ganized as it is at prefent, 126 battalions of infantry 
whole numbers exceeded fix hundred, and there were 56 
that fell Short of that number. It was well known, that 
battalions not amounting to fix hundred ..were confidered 
as inefficient, and not fit for fervice. If the meafure pro¬ 
pofed obtained twenty-feven thoufand, it would complete 
all the battalions of our infantry up to nine hundred men. 
•—Lord Caltlereagh then entered into a comparative view 
of his own plan for recruiting our military force, and that 
of Mr. Windham : atopic become trite, though Still wor¬ 
thy of ferious confideration, by the prolonged and pro- 
trafted debates on that fubjedft in the two preceding Sef- 
fions of parliament. Lord C. thought that men generally 
preferred the unlimited to limited fervice. He did not, 
however, by any means with to exclude men from limited 
fervice. The fadt was, that, whatever was the fyftem of 
recruiting, the country regularly produced about 1200 
men in a month. How the number came to be fo exa£r, 
he could not Sky. But, even in the halcyon days of hioffi 
bounty and no ballot, it was not found that the number 
of recruits exceeded the regular number by a hundred, 
nor tinder any other lyStem of recruiting did they fall Short 
to that amount. 
Earl Temple Said, that, when lord Caftlereagh laid his 
3 Hi colei 
