the arfenals of this country were never better fupplied, yet the public arms might not be fufficient. We ought, there fore, to do in a good caufe what the French had done in 4 bad one. Many useful precedents might be found in thẻ conduct of a bad caufe, which it would be prudent to apply to a good one. He apprehended, that under the late defence act, the King might require fuch arms to be delivered up! He was empowered to call for every thing that might be neceffary. He might call for horfes, waggons, and a val riety of other things, and confequently he might call for arms. However, if there was any doubt, a bill could be brought in. It appeared to him, upon the whole, that this plan was fimple, efficacious, and confiftent with the ancient law, and if carried into execution, was calculated to give effect to that zeal and animation, by which every British bofom was infpired. With refpect to the enrolment, it was no burden at all, but when the actual invasion came, it afforded an efficacious mode of bringing the powers of the country into action. He was not without hopes, that if the plan was adopted, in addition to the other methods reforted to, that this country would prove to France, and to the whole world, we were able to defend ourselves, and he trufted the people of France would be inclined to lay afide their infolent fpeculations at invafion, if they found this country determined to defend itself. He must be a brave man, who would run the gauntlet in the face of our navy, and then have to meet a race of people fuch as the inhabitants of England He believed that the mind of the military character at the head of the French government was at fuch à pitch, that his curiofity was incapable of being fatisfied without his feeing England. The French were naturally a curious people; but he had been told, that if the gratification of it met with any difficulty, they were foon fatisfied. They feemed very curious to know whether this country produced men capable of becoming foldiers. They had certainly done their utmost to deface and obliterate the page of history; but if they had at all confulted the annals of antiquity, they would have found that Great Britain and Ireland had produced foldiers, who had ftruck terror and difmay into the fouls of their enemies. True it was, that the great General at the head of the French armies had had but little opportunity of judging what British foldiers were, but he might have recolJected, that at Toulon there was a certain redoubt named De Graffe, which was defended by a gallant officer, the late Col.

Duncan,

Duncan, in a manner which must have made every French officer remember the British troops. The next time the First Conful had an opportunity of witneffing Britifn valour was at Acie; there that great General must have feen what could be done by a handful of British feamen, ftimulating and affifting the Turks, and stopping the progrefs of his army for fixty days behind an old garden wall. Such actions were fymptoms of what he would meet with, if he came here. There were many young officers in the Houfe at this noment, who could give an account of what English troops had done in the last war. They could point out how, at the. action near Carteau, a few divifions of British foldiers ate tacked the whole left wing of the French army, and took the French General prifoner. Our cavalry at that time did not know how to ufe the fabre. Now the English cavalry are as good swordsmen as any in the world. What did the French fay to the affair at Lincelles, when three battalions of foot guards attacked and defeated fix thoufand Frenchmen, and took eleven pieces of cannon? Many other cafes might be mentioned, one in particular, which redounded to the honour of General Fox, who commanded battalions of the 14th, 37th, and 53d regiments of the line; in all not more than 800, conquered the whole of the French forces, and regained the fortune of the day. Many of the officers who had achieved thefe glorious actions were ftill here, and fure he was they had the fame ftuff in them as formerly. They were animated with the fpirit of British foldiers; and if the French were curious enough to pay us a vifit, they would find with what energy it would be difplayed. Earnestly hoping that, if this measure was proper to be adopted, it would be encouraged by the Houfe; and firmly believing it would tend to give us the command of a force more than equal to any the enemy could bring against it, and afford the means of filling up our regiments in cafe of neceffity, he fhould conclude by moving for leave to bring in a bill to amend the act, palled this feffion, for defence of the country, and to enable his Majefty more effectually and speedily to use his ancient and undoubted prerogative in requiring the military service of his liege fubjects in cafe of invafion,

Mr. Windham faid, he did not rife for the purpose of opposing a motion, which he wifhed with all his heart had been brought forward a long time fince; and feeling as he did. upon the subject, he now charged his Majefty's Minifters, in the face of the Houfe, and of the country, with a gross VOL. IV. 1802-3. neglec

4 B

neglect of duty, and having brought the country into a danger which might, fome time fince, have been avoided. In this charge, the first thing the Houfe had to confider was, whether there was before them fufficient to establish a corpus delicti? He contended that there was, and fhould be ready to make the charge against them at any time. It was fufficient to fay, upon their own admiffion, that the country was threatened with invafion, and that they had neglected hitherta thofe means of precaution and fafety, which they had it in their power to adopt. He would not go to the extent of ftating, that, whenever the flate came into a worfe condition, or into a fituation of danger, it must neceffarily be afcribed to the misconduct of its rulers; but in this inftance it manifeftly came home to the Minifters. Some time fince they went on telling the country that every thing was fafe, and it had nothing to apprehend. If Bonaparte had not menaced us with invafion now, according to their mode of reasoning, we should not yet have been in any degree of danger. In this threat of invafion, therefore, there must be abfolute danger, or if it was not attended with danger, why did they refort to them now? and if it was neceffary to have recourfe to them now, why were they not adopted fome months ago? Would his Majesty's Minifters undertake to guarantee that they were not too late in their preparations? Had they any fecurity to give that the invafion would be fufpended, or that the danger would wait till their tardy measures were în readinefs, or could take effect? Minifters appeared now to be confident that the enemy would make the attempt. That, however, he believed, was not admitted till very lately, and he apprehended that it had as yet made but a feeble impreffion through the country-at least he faw no appearance of fuch a fpirit in the nation, as fo alarming an occafion ought to call for. If the enemy made, and held out thofe ferious inenaces against us, there was at the leaft fomething more than a chance that it would take effect; and of late the prevalent opinion feemed to be, what was rather a fuppofition, that the adventurous foe, or thofe madmen, as they are called, would probably attempt it. Thus were the energies of the nation afleep, while around us we behold the greateft part of Europe fubjugated, and the remainder overawed." He was not one of thofe who, like the mafs of the people, appeared to conceive all invafion to be impracticable. He paid the deference and attention it deferved, to the opinions of thofe high military characters who thought every exertion was to be roufed,

and

and that we fhould not on all occafions rely on the wooden walls of Old England, or on the wooden heads of fome of thofe who ruled it. What, he would afk, was there to impeach, in this inftance, the beft informed naval and military officers? How could we be confident, that the means hitherto provided would be fufficient to repel them? We probably knew, as well as the enemy did, our means of defence; but they alone were acquainted with their various and multiplied means of attack. (At thefe words, the right hon. Gentle man started at the report of fome crackers let off behind the walls of the Houfe, which produced a good deal of pleafantry in the Houfe.) He then proceeded to obferve with a fmile, that this little incident he fhould confider as a hint, that fuch mufic might foon be a little more familiar to us. After dwelling, for fome time, on the military authorities to whom he had before alluded, and particularly what, in a former debate, had fallen from Colonel Craufurd, he wished to know what were those defcriptions of perfons who spoke most confidently on there being no danger from invafion? He found amongst them many very eminent lawyers, many very orthodox divines, many worthy well-meaning country gentlemen, many very respectable merchants, many very induftrious agriculturists, and many, very many beautiful women. People of these. defcriptions faw nothing in the leaft alarming in the French undertaking a defcent, while, on the other hand, the general and the admiral, the foldier and the failor, faw nothing but their immenfe extent of coat, from the Texel to the Adriatic; their numerous and formidable armies; their fkilful and enterprifing generals; and their number and variety of modes of effecting a defcent. Put the question, however, to a man who never faw the fea but from fome watering place, and never embarked in any thing more than a bathing-machine-talk of invafion to fuch a man and he would laugh the idea to fcorn. He would make nothing of fuch a danger, and would difpatch his 30,000 invaders as falt and eafily as Captain Bobadil would his thirty men. Let the fame question be afked, however, an officer of fcience and experience, and he would tell you that it was much easier to fay it than to do it. Thofe, indeed, were competent judges, and he believed it would be found that no perfons derided enterprize fo much as thofe who poffeffed none of it themselves; but it was a judicious obfervation of Dr. Johnson, that "Every one judges of what he conceives might be done by

he can do himself." The fact was, that at least ninety-nine out of a hundred of the authorities of those who would judge of the practicability of invafion were good for nothing, as they knew nothing of the matter. They might indeed fairly atteft, that invafion was not practicable by any means they knew of, and then they would fpeak the truth. Some of these men would roundly maintain, that nothing could refift the valour of British troops, but, unfortu nately for fuch notions, facts fpoke the contrary. He was aware, he faid, that thefe fentiments were faid to be the language of defpondency, and he hoped he might be indulged in a few words on this odd mode of defpondency, and the odd mode of encouragement adopted by Minifters. Their encouragements confifted in telling the people there was no danger, and with this was contrafted the opinion of an eminent military character, (Colonel Craufurd) who difcharged his duty in a former debate with thofe confpicuous talents, for which he was diftinguished, and in a strain of eloquence flowing from an intelligent understanding. From him then to that hon. Officer was in fome degree transferred that tone of defpondency which was faid to be fo mifchievous. As for his own part, he declared that he would be at no pains to exculpare himself, and should content himself with being in the fituation of one of thofe ancient knights who for any defect of prowess, in chivalrous times, were wont to have their purs cut off by the king's cook, in the way of punishment. Those who reproached him for defpondency, he could not forget, were the fame men who gave us the notable treaty of Amiens, which was to fet the world at peace, and preferve this country from danger. Let his accufers recollect, that with all his fears and timidity, he did not approve that peace, but preferred to it the hazard of the war. He ftill continued to think fo, while they lulled themselves into a falfe fecurity, until, like drowfy watchmen, they were at length awakened, and obliged to spring their rattles, which made a great noife, but did no execution. When they did this, they would perhaps difcover that the pufillanimity, and those fears which induced him to reprefent the dangers of the country, might at least rank with their magnanimity, which dealt only in fubmiffion. Would it be right or magnanimous in him, if he faw a houfe on fire, inftead of loudly knocking at the door, to alarm the inhabitants for their fafety, to whisper through the key-hole that the houfe was all in flames? If he

found