The next claufe to which he had to call the attention of the Committee was that which included the exemptions; but previous to entering upon that claufe, he had to state another alteration which had been made in the bill. The bill in its original form proceeded in the fcale of the militia ballot, and took the age at which perfons were liable to ferve at from eighteen to forty-five years. Property, as well as perfonal fervice, was alfo to be attended to on the fame ground; and perfons above forty-five years, if poffeffed of a certain property, fhould likewife be made liable to a certain extent; and if they were ftruck on the ballot, they fhould be obliged to find a fubftitute. The age for thofe able and liable to ferve perfonally would now be from fixteen to forty-five, and the fize five feet two inches, as ufually prescribed for the militia, though not, perhaps, very rigidly to be obferved. The criterion which he was dif pofed to fix for those who were liable to be ballotted for above forty-five was, that they paid 301. and upwards to affeffed taxes. Such perfons, where the ballot fell upon them, fhould be obliged to find a fubftitute. A claufe was allo provided to enable lieutenants and deputy lieutenants of counties to amend the lifts, which might eafily be done by ftriking out those who had left a parish, and inferting in their ftead those who had come into it.

He should now proceed to the exemption claufes, and thefe would be found nearly the fame as thofe enacted by the fupplementary militia bill, to which and to the present bill he begged leave to refer the Committee for particulars. He fhould propofe to take the 22d June, the day on which the bill was brought in, for the period beyond which the exemptions were not to extend. All articled clerks, therefore, who had not entered into their articles on or before that day, were not exempted; neither were volunteer or yeomanry corps; and to prevent frauds, which he was informed had often occurred among a certain description of clergymen, no perfon who had not obtained licenfe to preach a twelvemonth before the 22d of June, 1803, should avail himself of the exemption propofed for the clergy.

Volunteer and yeomanry corps, whofe fervices had been accepted on cr before the 22d inftant, or to fuch corps of that defcription, who, even after that period, fhould be willing to extend their fervices to their refpective military diftricts, were alfo to be included in the exemptions; and likewife, if they offered to perform the garrifon, or police fervice, of great towns, fuch as London, Edinburgh, Bristol, VOL. IV. 1802 3. Glasgow,

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Glasgow, York, Birmingham, &c. The exemption might alfo be extended to fuch individuals belonging to the volunteer corps, who, though their fervices were not accepted on or before the 22d inftant, would be willing to appear at mufter for a certain number of days; the number of days he should propose for that purpose would be two days in the month, or a certain number of days equal to two days in the month. Another amendment he fhould have to propofe related to fubftitutes. No fubftitute fhould be admitted who had more than three children, and for the mode of providing for their families, he would refer to the provifions of the fupplementary militia bill.

He would now proceed to confider the claufes for impofing fines. According to the militia every perfon was liable to a fine who did not find a substitute. For the ordinary militia the fine was 101. but it was increased to 151. fince the fupplementary militia was introduced. The fame principle fhould now be followed, but fome difference should be made with refpect to perfons of different defcriptions of property. He should propofe, in the first place, that every perfon from fixteen to forty-five fhould, if drawn, and not difpofed to ferve in perfon, pay a fine of 201, which fum fhould go to the parifh that is obliged to find its quota. Should the parish be able to find a fubftitute for a smaller fum, the furplus fhould go in aid of the poor's rates of fuch parish, and hence an intereft would arife to keep down the price of fubftitutes as low as poffible. The lowest fine would therefore be 201.; but with refpect to those who paid ten pounds and upwards to the affeffed taxes, they fhould pay five pounds more for every ten they paid to the affeffed taxes, till the fine amounted to 1001. The furplus, after finding the substitute in fuch cafes, fhould be paid into the hands of the receiver-general, and by him to be employed for the recruiting fervice of the army.

Moft of the other claufes were the fame as in the fupplementary militia bill, efpecially with refpect to raising men by volunteers; and the fpeedy and effectual accomplishment of the measure muft chiefly depend on the ftrenuous exertions of gentlemen in their refpective districts. As to the price to be given to volunteers, he fhould propose that they fhould receive half the price paid for a fubftitute, and moreover two guineas from the receiver-general. The next claufe relates to the power vefted in his Majefty for modelling this army, and appointing its officers. Out of the line, none were to be appointed under the rank of colonels ar

lieutenant

lieutenant-colonels, and fuch effective officers of that defcription who would be ready to go down and inspect the drilling of their refpective corps. Of the half pay officers, many were always difpofed to volunteer their fervices when any emergency called for them; and he wished a clause to be inferted in the bill, granting a power to discharge from time to time fuch as might be difpofed to become volunteers in the line. His Majefty was likewife to be empowered to accept the offers of thofe to ferve with the regulars who had been enrolled for a limited fervice, as had been done during the late war, when many of the militia offered their fervices, on condition of not being fent out of Europe. The new raised battalions were to be formed as much as poffible from the fame counties; and where a county did not furnish enough to form a battalion, it should be collected and made up out of the neighbouring counties. They should correspond in a great measure with the regulars of each county; they should be accoutred and bear the fame facings as the battalions of the regulars, and indeed he confidered as fo many auxiliary battalions, ready to be called out and affift in the fame service. Their fervices to be con-fined to Great Britain and Ireland, unless they volunteered them for more distant scenes of action, but without their free option no power on earth fhould remove them from where they were originally deftined to act.

The right hon. Gentleman next adverted to the claufe relative to the proportion of the men to be furnished by the Cinque Ports and the City of London. He had no objection that London fhould furnish its proportion of men in the fame way as had been done formerly in raifing its propor tions of the militia. He trufted, however, that the public fpirit of the city of London would not be wanting in giving every degree of facility to the expeditious fupply of the men to be raised. The right hon. Gentleman then concluded by moving the first clause respecting the quotas.

Mr. Pitt faid, in relation to the Cinque Ports, from the fituation which it had pleafed his Majefty's gracious kindness to place him in, he could not avoid requesting the attention of the Committee, and of his right hon. Friend who brought forward the prefent measure, to a few obfervations which he had to fuggest on the subject. The Cinque Ports, from the nature of their conftitution, had always been left to raise their quota in their own way. He did not mean, however, to state this by way of exempting them from the operation of this bill, but he looked on this as a new kind of levy, and therefore X X 2

did

did not know, that under this or any other regulation, they can form a true judgment of the true numbers which ought to be the quota for the Cinque Ports; and he was by no means certain that 400 was that which would be fair and equal. He had no reafon to believe it would make any great difference how their quota was raised, but he wished to attend as much as poffible to the juftness and fairness of the proceeding. As he did not with, he faid, to trouble the Committee more than once on a local fubject, he would then beg their attention to the clause relative to the Cinque Ports at the end of the bill. By the act of the 42d of the King, they were directed to raise them as they chofe, but this was a new levy, and made an estimate of their quota on a new principle. The deputy lieutenants were every way competent, in the different counties, to the tafk of raifing the militia, and of judging of the quotas to be provided for each, but there were no fuch perfons in the Cinque Ports. The mayors and different officers in the feveral towns had always performed this office, and raifed their quota in their own way. He wished, therefore, to apptife his right hon. Friend and the Committee of these circumftances, in order that they might turn their minds to the subject, and prevent any delay which a mifconception on this point might occafion.

The Secretary at War faid, he hoped he had not formed the estimate too high, in fixing the quota of the Cinque ports at 400. It had been made according to the fame calculation as the other parts of the county, and there was a power given to the proper officers to alleviate any circumstances that might be thought to prefs too hard on them.

Sir W. Young found fault with the number of men fixed on as the quota of the county of Buckingham, viz. 443. This county, he faid, had already raifed a corps of volunteers, who had agreed to go to any part of the country, which amounted to 520 men, who have already been out for the laft three weeks; the proportion was not equal to that stated by the Secretary at War, of one to fixteen As a magistrate of the county, therefore, he could not avoid expreffing his fentiments, as well as thofe of his brother magiltrates, and as this would probably not be the laft levy, he thought the number of 443 was much too great for their proportion.

Mr. Pitt faid it would be very injurious to the operation of the bill if this fort of competition for exemption was indulged in The county of Bucks was certainly entitled to great praise for its exertions in furnishing a volunteer force,

but

but he could not conceive how their having embodied 500 volunteers, could make it neceffary to ballot one man out of 16 in that county, which was fo much more than in other counties.

The Secretary at War then moved, that the number of men to be furnished by the city of London fhonld be 800, and by the Cinque Ports 400.

Mr. Alderman Combe faid, it was not, he was fure, the with of the city of London to provide lefs than their fair proportion, but as they had peculiar privileges upon this fubject, he hoped this claufe would be fufpended until fome further confideration could be had.

The Secretary at War faid, if it was the defire of the magiftrates of London, he had no objection to poftpone the claufe. There were however precedents, in which the city of London had been called upon to provide men for the public fervice. If, however, the magiftrates would take this duty upon themselves, and bring in a bill, he certainly had no objection to poftpone the claufe.

The Lord Mayor of London faid, he was fure the city of London was anxious to provide their full proportion of men, and if this claufe was left out he had no doubt but that the city would come forward in a way that would be perfecly fatisfactory.

It was agreed that the clause should be suspended.

The claufe regulating the mode in which the lifts are to be formed gave rife to a very long converfation.

Sir Robert Buxton argued, that if any change of the ages was to be introduced, the existing lifts would be found very inadequate.

Mr. Ellifon cordially concurred in this opinion.

Mr. W. Smith animadverted on the idea thrown out of compelling perfons paying more than 30l. annually for the affeffed taxes, even though they were above the age for perfonal service as now fixed, for being called on to furnish fubftitutes, to contribute by a certain fum to the establishment of this new force. He wished not to be guilty of any thing like want of gallantry to the other fex, but if property was to be made the criterion of liability, it was not easy to fee how ladies were to be exempted from the ballot, from the liability of procuring a fubftitute, or the pecuniary compenfation, in which their fervices were to be difpenfed with altogether.

The Secretary at War replied to the laft fpeaker.

General