muft vibrate through the heart of the nation. No measure can be too vigorous to repel the giant mischief that affails us. For my part, my Lords, I mult again repeat it, I am as proud to enter the ranks as a private, as to march at the head of an army. No perfonal feelings can be now indulged. The common danger calls for common exertion. By that alone can we repel it; and can we indeed continue to fhrink and fhudder under the fhade of a coloffus that deprives us of the fight of heaven, and of the cheering influence of the fun? In vain would we look to Auftria, to Ruffia: no; our fecurity must be in our own fpirit, our fafety in our own ftrength. Did we not become timely aware of our danger, we might again have become the dupes of a miferable accommodation. But Providence feems to have at length opened the eyes of Minifters, and fnatched us from the gulf of irretrievable ruin, to which the acceptance of the enemy's terms would have hurled us. What have we now to look to but to measure the strength of that enemy, and to prepare adequate powers to refift him. Refift him! no; we must cruth him, or we perish. For that purpose there is no facrifice or privation for which we must not be prepared; our purfes and perfons must be at the difposal of the country. Let us but hope that the hands that are to wield our ftrength, may know how to guide its energies, and where to point its exertions. To the plan proposed I thall offer no objections; convinced, my Lords, that objectionable as it may be, it is wifer and more expedient to put it into immediate execution, than to lofe time in devifing a better, the operation of which must be deferred. In profecuting the measure now propofed, experience may fuggeft amendments; but no time is to be loft. As to the point of order, I am glad, my Lords, that it has not been fo ftrictly adhered to as a noble Earl feemed to defire: if any irregularity has occurred, I own I rejoice in what has been called diforder; it has fuggefted much to my thoughts; and I truft it has not fuggefted lefs to the minds of Minifters. But thefe are but trivial differences; and I truft all attention to them will be loft in the general eagerness to act with one heart and hand to meet a danger fuch as the country has had never before to

encounter

Lord Mulgrave rofe, and began by complimenting the noble Lord who had juft fat down, on the patriotic fentiments which he had just delivered-fentiments which did the noble Lord great honour, and could not fail, being so well

fimed, to produce the most useful and advantageous effect on the people at large. His Lordship faid, he agreed with the noble Lord in almost every word that he uttered. He should likewife vote for the addrefs, though he did not quite approve of the intention of carrying his Majefty's meffage into effect, in the manner, the outline of which, his noble Friend, the noble Secretary of State, had opened to the Houfe. If he understood him correctly, the men raised by ballot were to be at liberty to enlift into the regular army, whenever they thought proper. Such a meafure would difguft the officers: who were to command the troops to be raised; for what officer would be pleafed to be expofed to having one of his privates come up to him with his arms a-kimbo, and say ; "I fhall lift in the army to-morrow?"

Lord Hobart Spoke to order. His noble Friend had mifunderstood him; he had only faid, there was no clause of prohibition put into the bill to prevent the men from enlisting.

Lord Mulgrave refumed his fpeech, and expreffed his unqualified approbation of this meafure, becaufe forty thousand men thus railed will enable an equal number of the troops of the line to act offenfively; they will be an annoyance to the enemy whenever it fhall pleafe the Government in furtherance of its defigns to employ them in active and offensive fervice; but without fuch a plan, the regular force to this amount would be confined to our fhores, and be in a great measure useless. And why fhould they be reftricted at such a time-or why thould their proud fpirit be repreffed? He well knew the feelings and fentiments of an English foldier, and he would advife to have them called forth-they were thefe: "Tell me what I am to do.-Define my duty. I regard not the difficulties that are to be encountered

let me but know wha I am to do, and my life thall be facrificed, or the object fhall be accomplished." But, if he thinks you trifle with him, or mean to impofe on him, in vain will you hope for cordial or efficient exertion. He ftrongly reprobated the delicacy that may be felt with regard to perfons who may be ballotted to ferve in the caufe of their country, and confequently in their own. It would be asked, Will you force thefe perfons to ferve if they cannot provide fubftitutes? Yes. When the country is in danger, it is incumbent on all defcriptions to come forward at the rifk even of life, and crufh the audacious foe

"Dulce et decorum esi pro patria mori.”

If they cannot provide fubftitutes, let them follow the example of the noble Earl (Moira) who offers to take his ftand in the private ranks, and fall, if fate fhould fo ordain it, with honourable wounds in front, amid his gallant countrymen in defence of the general cause. He was only forry that fo much time had been loft, he should wish to fee the people now under arms, and he could congratulate the country on having a very valuable acquifition in thofe officers who belonged to the 2d battalion that had been difbanded; on their merit, knowledge of difcipline, and fervices, he placed great reliance; but very little indeed could he depend upon those officers who came from the Eaft Indies, after having amaffed fortunes, or with a view to recruit their impaired conftitutions for the term of three years the first of them in coming, and the other two they spend in a state of covalefcence. But will it be faid that this measure is strong? So it ought to be. This is an uncommon time; the exigency is imperious indeed. With the change of times we must alter our measures.

"Tempora mutantur, et nos muramur in illis."

Away then with this idle cant and objection to regular ar mies. No danger is to be apprehended from an ariny of Englishmen now-a-days; but without it we fhould have every thing to dread from France. This is our fhield when we are to defend ourfelves, and our fword when we are to draw and affert our independence and protect our rights.

The Duke of Richmond rofe, and began his fpeech in a very low tone of voice. He took notice of what had been faid of continental alliances, and he thought that in a war with France, it was a wife and proper thing; if the Government could have willing and able allies, they ought to obtain them, but they were not always to be had. Continental allies had, in former wars ferved to preferve, what no longer exifted, the balance of power in Europe. Had we had firm and powerful allies, we might have prevented the prefent ftate of Germany, and have preferved Hanover, a lofs which he deeply regretted, not only from the fincere forrow he felt, that his Majefty fhould be deprived of his electorate, but also on acCount of the vaft acceffion of power it put into the hands of France. The French were, exclufively of other advantages, by the poffeffion of the electorate of his Majefty, enabled to remount their cavalry with fome of the finest horfes on the continent, at a moment when they were molt in need of fresh. horfes, as the breed of horfes was exhaufted in France, and

fuch

fuch as they had in the use of their cavalry, were miferably broken down and jaded. With regard to the measure, the outline of which had been opened by the noble Secretary of State, he had some doubt of its practicability. Let noble Lords recollect, that the country had already been called upon within a few months, to ballot for two distinct numbers of militia; if they were now to be again called upon to raise 40,000 additional men by ballot, he feared they must be ta ken chiefly from the agriculture of the kingdom, and that could not but be attended with very prejudicial confequences. He should have thought men might have been raifed by levy and bounty, as was ufual for the army, and applied togeneral fervice, as an illuftrious Duke had recommended. A force calculated for general service might equally be employed in defenfive meatures or offenfive operations, as the nature and circum ftances of the war might require. The Duke recommended it to Minifters to employ a number of cavalry in the defence of the country. Our troops of horse were very fine ones; and the horfes of this kingdom, of which we had great plenty, fome of the fineft in Europe, whereas the men to be raised were all infantry. Now, he thought cavalry the most efficient force that could be oppofed to the enemy in such a country as England, particularly where no invading general could derive fuch fame as Dumourier did, from the tactics he difplayed in the forest of Ardennes; or, Moreau, in the retreat which will immortalife his name. He would alfo fug geft the propriety of augmenting the horfe artillery. It was a force too obvionfly ufeful to be neglected by Government. With regard to the raifing 40,000 men by ballot, his Grace repeated it, that he doubted of its practicability. The laft fupplementary militia regiments were not yet compleated. His own regiment was deficient two hundred men, and they were extremely difficult to be got. Other regiments, to his knowledge, were equally incomplete. He endeavoured to get eighty men, and fixty of them paid the iol. per man, for their exemption, fo that in fact you raised money and not men, when a farther attempt was made to raise more men by ballot. In fuch a war as we are engaged in, men's opinions and prejudices ought to be attended to. We ought to take the heart and good will of the country with us; but diftreffing the agriculture, for there the preffure would be most felt, was not the best means of fecuring that important object. Having added feveral other ob ervations, the Duke faid, that he had rifen when he did, because he could not fit

out

1

out a long debate, being a very old man, and very infirm. He concluded with declaring that he fhould vote for the ad-. drefs.

The Earl of Limerick felt it incumbent upon him to apologise for trefpaffing upon their Lordships' patience whilft he delivered his fentiments: fentiments which had been already expreffed to a certain extent, by a noble Earl (Moira) whofe eloquence was unequalled, whose glowing and patriotic fpirit and feelings would, he had no doubt, pervade the country, and call forth its utmost energy. He differed, however, from the noble Earl in fome things, and regretted extremely to be of a different opinion from the illustrious Duke who fpoke third in the debate. What, though troops are fent, or even if it will be fo, forced to the Eaft or West Indies, or elfew here, they have before them those rewards which never fail to animate the truly generous breaft. They have honour, laurels, and the approbation of their country; they are enrolled for the fervice like -freemen, and not like the flaves of a neighbouring country, who are compelled to quit their homes, their wives, their children, their fathers and mothers, in obedience to an arbitrary and tyrannical mandate. He lamented that he did not fee a noble Earl, who had spoken early in the debate (the Earl of Caernarvon) as he wifhed to make a few obfervations on fome parts of his fpeech, which he owned had a good deal furprised him. The noble Earl, he faid, no man could perfonally respect more than he did, but he could not but take notice of one or two extraordinary things which had fallen from him. He had complained ftrongly and warmly against the measure, the outline of which had been given by the noble Secretary of State, and had said, that railing more regiments by ballot, was picking the pocket of individuals, instead of paying for the force, as it ought to be paid for, out of the public purfe. He could not agree to that pofition, but what most astonished him was, to hear the noble Earl declare, that if the 40,000 men propofed were raised by ballot, the measure would not be fubmitted to, and that both in and out of that Houfe, he would continue to oppose it. Surely the expreffion, the words of which he Lord Limerick) took down at the time, must have fallen from the noble Earl in the warmth and hurry of debate, and on cool reflection the noble Earl would regret that he had made use of it. Such opinions and wifhes could only lead to the defeat of all our plans for fecuring our independence and rights, VOL. IV. 1802-3.

li

and