and furnish to our inveterate foe the fureft means of fucceeding in his defperate enterprife. Having fpoken to two or three other points in the Earl of Caernarvon's fpeech, his Lordship proceeded to fay a few words as to his own opinion of the measure, to which the Address referred. He owned he thought Minifters entitled to his thanks for having propofed it; he thought the coming forward with fuch a measure, taken together with the various other measures of preparation, which Minifters had brought forward within thefe three months, was a feries of proofs not of procraftination and delay, but of activity, energy, and vigour. With regard to recruiting the army, a foldier, like a woman, felt a difficulty in prevailing on himself to take the first step, but having once put on a red coat and become a foldier, he would always be a foldier. He thought the mode of raising the men excellent in every point of view; but more especially, as the men were not restricted to ferve in their respective counties, or countries the only difficulty he faw was one, and that was, to get the clothes on the recruit, for when once he was drelfed in a red, blue, or grey coat, he feared no danger; the man who before would dread to crofs a brook, would then stem the torrent without difmay; give him facings and a cockade in his hat, then he flies away to glory. He ap proved the railing the men by ballot, because our home defence was neceffarily the object first to be provided for. He had rifen, however, chiefly to take notice of what had fallen from the noble Earl, whom he did not now fee in the House. He had only to add, that he should vote for the Addrefs. Earl Fitzwilliam obferved, that the effect of raising so ma ny militia, exclufive of the difadvantage of their not being applicable to general service, put an end to the regular recruiting fervice of the ariny; it was impoffible that the two services fhould go on together; and, upon the prefent occafion, he fhould have thought it a much wifer and more effectual proceeding, to have fufpended the completing the fupplementary militia, and applied themfelves wholly to adding to the regu lar army by every poffible means. The army was a fufficient difpofeable force, and could be sent any where. His Lordfhip took notice of what the Duke of Richmond had faid, efpecting the two hundred men being deficient in his regiment of militia; the fame was the cafe, he faid, in the regi ments for the North and Weft Ridings of the county of York. The men held back in hopes that the price of fubftitutes would be railed, and therefore they would not come forward forward for the militia. At any rate it would, he was per: fuaded, be wiser to repeal the act for the fupplementary militia, or fufpend it, and recruit the army. He rofe, his Lordship faid, to state, that recruiting and raifing the mi litia in greater numbers could not be done at one and the fame time. Lord Grenville agreed with the noble and illustrious Duke, in his defcription of the real and proper use of a militia, a de feription which the illuftrious Duke had given with the ut most accuracy and correctnefs. He could not but join with thafe noble Lords who had complained of the want of activity of Minifters in not coming earlier forward with this or fome more efficient measure of defence. The noble and eloquent Lord below him (Lord Rawdon) had faid, they knew of the approach of war on the 8th of March, and it was now the latter end of June; but that was not all, they knew ever fince the figning of the Treaty of Amiens, that every one act of the French Goverment had been an act of aggreffion and infult. They knew this for a whole year, and yet they did not preferve in existence a force, of which they might, on the declaration of war, immediately have availed themfelves, but they contrive to call out the militia, at the very time it was neceffary to recruit the army. The two fervices, as his noble friend had well obferved, could not go on together. With regard to the whole conduct of Minifters, it was of a piece; it was all part of a fystem of neglect and protraction. Without ftriking one blow themfelves, to annoy the enemy, fince the 8th of March, they have done nothing, but fuffered the enemy to feize upon Hanover, and the next news that would arrive would be the fhutting up of Hamburgh, the Elbe, the Wefer, and all the ports in the north of Germany: With regard to the prefent meafure, although he thought recruiting the army would be preferable, he would not oppofe it, for fear that the Minifters would not propose any other measure, if the present were not received. He fhould, therefore, in the future operation of paffing the bill through the Houfe," give them his affiftance, as he would not, under fuch circumftances of the country, do any thing to embarrass or impede the measures of Government. With refpe&t to what had fallen in debate on the subject of confcription, however unpopular the opinion might be, he was willing to bear his own fhare in the unpopularity, in avowing that it was of the very effence of all governments, and the very comI i2 patt pact of all focieties, that the Government had a right to call upon the whole, or any part of its fubjects, for common defence against a common enemy, in return for the protection they enjoyed under that Government. It was already the cafe with feamen, and was equally juftifiable towards any. other clafs of fubjects, when public danger required it. 1 Lord Hobart obferved, that when the noble Lord filled the office of Minifter for the foreign department, during the late war, he had his fupport, and fhould have had it as long as the war continued, and he had a feat in that House. He alfo thanked the noble Lord for his readiness to take a fhare in the unpopularity of a measure, to which he trusted there would be no occafion to refort. But he could have wished, that the noble Lord, and many others, who had taken the trouble to give that condemnation which he had anticipated to the measure of defence he propofed, would have been so good as to fuggeft fome better in its place. It was not his purpose to go back with the noble Lord to the topic of the Treaty of Amiens... With refpe&t to the disbanding of the militia, it was done, as of course, by the conclufion of the war. He was ready to acknowledge that the occafion for re embodying them fo fpeedily followed their difbandment," that it had been impracticable to complete them fo foon as could be withed. However, upon this ground, no just blame could attach to his Majefty's Minifters; for they had iffued orders, as fpeedily as was poffible, to the Lords Lieutenants in their respective counties, to proceed with as much expedi tion as poffible, to ballot and enroll the new militia ; and that this was not effected fo expeditiously as it ought, was: owing to fome negligence in that quarter; the refult of which,: he was free to acknowledge, had been, that the ballot for the militia and the recruiting for the line came fo close together, that the one very materially impeded the other. The noble Lord had with great feverity arraigned the conduct, and under-rated the talents of his Majefty's prefent Minifters; but: in mofi not be forgotten, that even the noble Lord, with all his abilities. was not exempt from misfortunes when he was in power, and that the continent was loft in that very period when he was at the head of foreign affairs. The Duke of Richmond admitted, that as Lord Lieutenantof the county of Suffex, he had received the noble Secretary of Siave's letter in autumn laft to fummon his militia to be forthwith ballotted for; and the delay in bringing them forward was not imputable to Minifters nor to Lord Lieutenants, but to the act of Parliament itself, which rendered it neceffary to fummon so many meetings to call for lifts to be produced, and to take all the neceffary steps previous to forming the regiments. A Lord Grenville again rofe, and faid there was no point of view in which he defired more to have his conduct confidered, than in contraft with the conduct of his Majesty's prefent Minifters, and more particularly with refpect to the continent, where, during the whole of the war, that part of British territory was preferved which his Majesty's prefent Ministers had loft and abandoned within one fhort month. Lord Hobart again rofe, and faid, the noble Lord had no right to charge him with a lofs, which he well knew could not be avoided. Lord Sheffield concluded the debate by saying, that in voting for the addrefs, he wished not to be fuppofed to agree that the plan of detence proposed was the best that could be felected; on the contrary, it appeared to him inadequate as to the object, and inexpedient as to the means; and if the ballot was to take place without any exemptions, the moft oppreffive, provoking, and expenfive that could have been chofen. He confidered that if the propofition paffed into a law, upwards of 112,oco men, for whom there had been a ballot, would be called out within three months; and if the number should ever be complete, which he much doubted, that the wives and families of thofe 112,000 men muft all fall on their parishes. to. At length the question was put, and the addrefs agreed CLERGY FARMING AND RESIDENCE BILL. The House refolved itself into a Committee again on this bill. The Lord Chancellor then moved a variety of infertions and omiffions of a verbal nature, and introduced several new claufes in different parts of the bill. All his amendments were agreed to, and the report was immediately received, and the bill ordered to be printed. Mr. Alexander and others then brought up three more bills from the Commons, which were prefented, and read a first time. Adjourned. HOUSE HOUSE OF COMMONS. MONDAY, JUNE 20. DEFENCE OF THE NATION. The Secretary at War faid, In calling the attention of the Houfe to his Majefty's meffage, I thall begin by stating that it bas two main objects; fitt, to make an effectual provifion for the defence and fecurity of the united kingdom;' and fecondly, to fet at liberty a large difpotable force for offenfive operations; and in the pretent conjuncture of affairs, I do not hesitate to fay, that it is the bounden duty of Parliament to contribute every thing in their power to those important objects. The first object is to provide more effectually for the defence and fecurity of the united kingdom, and confidering this object with reference to our actual state of defence, naval and military, and with reference to the means of attack and annoyance which the enemy poffeffes, and the various points to be guarded, in viewing their forces in this compound fenfe, I cannot help expreffing my conviction, that a large additional force is neceffary. In faying this, I beg to be understood to speak with reference to the extraordinary times in which we live, and with reference to that extraordinary character who is become the mafter-mover of the revolutionary machine fo long directed to the deftruction of the British empire. In other times and other circumftances, when we might be menaced with ordinary dangers, I do not hesitate to exprefs my opinion, that with only the force which we have actually on foot, joined with our naval power, we should be entitled to look with contempt on all the means of annoying us that our enemies could make ufe of. In other times, with a force nearly amounting to. 140,000 hien in Great Britain and Ireland (for fo much it will amount to when the fupplementary militia shall have been raised), and that force combined with our powerful navy, I think we should have been entitled to look with contempt on the impotent prepara.. tions of the enemy, which would fcarcely have dared to quit their ports, from the certainty of being either fent to the bottom of the fea, or dafhed in pieces fhould they reach our shores, by the cannon and arms of the brave. men whom they would there find ready and eager to receive them. Without over-rating the danger of the present times, I believe it poffible that fome of the enemy may reach England or Ireland; but if they do, I have no doubt that the lame fate eventually awaits them; and therefore when our |