Mr. Sheridan did not conceive that the fpeech of his hon, Friend contained a fingle objection, to the poftponement of the difcuffion on the bil till it had proceeded to fome of its other stages. He allowed that the bill did require fome important alterations. Indeed, it was impoffible for any man reading the bill not to fee that fuch alterations were indifpenfable. The measure itfelf was, however, one to which it was impoffible to object; for its principle was to roufe the Spirit, and embody the force of the country. Though he differed with an hon. Gentleman on the fame bench (Mr. Windham) in many opinions which he had expreffed relative to the prefent fituation of the country, he cordially agreed with him in thinking that the fpirit of the country was not yet raised to the level which the prefent fituation of affairs demanded. The national fpirit was indeed mending, but it was not fufficiently raifed to the level of our circumftances. Spirited refolutions appeared on paper, but they were not followed up with correfponding energy. He might allude to a variety of proofs in fupport of this affertion. He knew that there was no want of exertions, on the part of Government, to complete the militia; and as an inftance of the neceffity of fuch exertions, he might take the liberty of flating, that the regiment under the command of Lord Cranley, formerly confifting of 600 men, at prefent only amounted to 280; and that the other regiment under the command of Lord Grantly, was nearly as defective; fo that the two regiments of Surry militia, which ought to confift of 1,200 men, only contained about 600. He faid he had lately been in Hampshire, and that he found the fame opinion prevailed there as elsewhere, in respect to invafion. When people in that quarter talked of invafion, he knew that they were accuftomed to fay, that if their heads never ached till an invalion was attempted, they were certain their heads would never ache at all. From every circumftance, he was convinced that the real fact was, that the people of the country were not properly awake to a due fenfe of their danger; and there was an abfolute neceffity for their being impreffed with this belief before their true fpirit. and patriotifm could be fhown forth with all that energy which he knew they poffeffed. He thought that it was proper to make the bill as perfect as poffible in the Committee, ere it was advanced to the laft ftage. His hon. Friend had found fault with the meature of the bill, because it had not been brought forward fooner. Whether thefe feps might, or fhould have been propofed earlier, he fhould not deter

mine; but he was thoroughly convinced that fuch measures were now abfolutely neceffary. He profeffed himself very ready to go into all thofe general or particular topics but he hoped that no hon. Member would be the means of occafioning" delay by ftating objections, in the prefent ftage, to a plan which ought to have the minds and hearts of all to go along with it, especially when no other mode of procédure more eligible could be propofed for the adoption of the Houfe.

Mr. Pitt faid, that he could not agree in regard to the reafor.s affigned by the hon. Member, who withed to postpone the difcuffions on the bill till another ftage of its progrefs. He thought that the bill was liable to confiderable objections, in regard to its general tendency to procure within the time re quifite, a force fuitable to the fituation of the country. He hoped that any amendments that might now be proposed would tend to relieve the Committee of fome degree of trouble, As to the objections which had been stated by an hon. Member oppofite to him (Mr. Kinnaird), though he had not been in the Houfe at the commencement of that hon. Member's fpeech, he conceived the general scope of his objection to be, that the measures propoled were not fufficiently adequate to the real object in view. Any objections he had heard ftated, he thought, were perfectly proper for the difcuffion of the Committee, for they could not be itated as amounting to bjections to the principle of the bill. As to what had been faid with regard to volunteer exertions, he hoped the Houfe would do him the juftice to fay, he had stated on a former occalion, as strongly as was neceflary, thefe very fentiments. He still was inclined to think that fome additional provifions ought to be introduced into the bill as to the voluntary exertions of the country, and that every encouragement ought to be afforded to that object. He could not unite with the hon. Member (Mr. Kinnaird) that the prefent bill went to throw any degree of flur upon the people, by refufing their voluntary offers. He never understood that there was any thing in the bill tending to reprefs fuch offers; on the contrary, there was a clause to encourage volunteers, by holding out to them certain privileges of exemption in point of extent of service. He thought, however, that the encouragement given to them was not fufficiently extenfive. He concluded by again preffing upon the Houfe a due fenfe of the neceffity of expedition in the adoption of the meafures propofed by the bill, and hoped that the Houfe would not allow it to go out of their hands that evening, till it had paffed completely through the Committee.

VOL. IV. 1802-3.

4 G

Mr.

Mr. Sheridan explained, and faid, that he had heard the right hon. Gentleman who had juft fat down affirm, that he (Mr. Pitt) had not been in the House when the hon. Member Mr. Kinnaird) had commenced his fpeech, ftating his objections to the prefent bill. He thought the right hon. Member (Mr. Pitt) might have alfo faid, with equal propriety, that he had not been in the Houfe when he (Mr. Sheridan) had taken the liberty of offering a few words on the occafion; for the fentiments he had then given, feemed to have been totally misunderstood by that right hon. Gentleman. For his part, he faw no improper afperfion, flur, or even difcouragement offered in the present bill against the voluntary exertions of the country.

Mr.. Kinnaird explained.

Mr. Windham obferved, in allufion to what had fallen from Mr. Pitt, that the right hon. Gentleman had of late fpoken fo much on different fides of the House, that he was at fome loss to conceive whether he alluded to him, or the hon. Member on the fame bench with him (Mr. Sheridan); but in answer to both him and the other Member, who charged him (Mr. Windham) with depreffing the spirit of the country, he would fay, that his object, in endeavouring to imprefs upon the country a due fenfe of its danger, was only to bring up the apprehenfions of the country to a level with that danger; convinced that when that was done, there would be no want of spirit on the part of the people: but those who were really chargeable with depreffing the popular spirit, were those whofe duty it was to have brought forward this measure long fince, and had deferred it to the prefent moment. He could not coincide with the hon. Gentleman on the fame bench (Mr. Sheridan) who deprecated difcuffion in the present stage of the bill, because he thought difcuffion now would throw many lights upon the fubject, which would better enable the Houfe to form decifive opinions upon the fubject, and go into the Committee better prepared to fuggeft amendments when neceffary, and thus put the bill into a perfect shape, with much more expedition than by hur rying it crudely, and without difcuffion, through the Com mittee now, with a view to recommit and debate it at a future opportunity. [Here the bill was accordingly recommitted to Committee of the whole Houfe..

The Secretary at War then role to ftate what were the general heads to which the alterations which he meant to propofe would apply. The first of thefe was the mode in which the force

to be difciplined fhould be enrolled. As to the expediency of the enrolment, he believed that no difference of opinion preailed. This was indeed neceffary to their being at all applied to any efficient purposes. It was in the first place propofed to veft the Lord Lieutenant and Deputy Lieutenants of counties with the power of calling for the services of all within the ages specified by the bill. The next flep would be, to iffue orders to the proper officers to leave notices with the householders in the refpective parishes, who would be requir ed within a given period to make their return. An hơn. Gentleman had alluded to the fcandalous deficiency of the quota of the militia to be furnished by the counties. He was aware of the existence of this evil, and great criminality was imputable to the fubordinate officers, through whofe negligence and ftupidity the groffet frauds were committed. To prevent the recurrence of these frauds, it would be neceffary to put it out of the power of the ftupidity or the ignorance of the inferior officers to repeat fuch fcandalous negligence. Unlefs fuch precautions were taken, the returns would be fo loofe and unfatisfactory as wholly to defeat the important. end which the bill p oposed to have in view. With fuch alterations, calculated to make the returns more correct and fatisfactory, he trusted that the enrolment would be conducted without difficulty or embarrassment. But indeed all

depended on the exertions of the gentlemen in the different counties, in having the measure reduced to practice within the shorteft poffible time. If thofe whofe fituation in life, and na tural influence over the lower orders were only for a few weeks to devote themfelves to the object of facilitating the execution of the act, he was confident that it would be carried into effect in a much fhorter period than it could be by any pofitive refolution on the fubject. The bill was worded in fuch a way as all bills of a fimilar nature must be expreffed; but by the exertions of difinterested, generous, patriotic zeal, the time neceffary for carrying it into effect might be materially fhortened, and the object much more effectually accomplished. The Committee did not require to be reminded, that without fuch a fpirit as that to which he referred, all enactments of the Legislature muft neceflarity be tedious in their application. The next point to which he thought it neceflary to advert, was the manner in which the forces were to be affembled. The arrangements on this fubject would of course, in the first inftance, be left to the Lord Lieutenants of the different counties. They would be 4G 2

the

the beft judges of the mode in which the alarm should be given, in cafe of invasion. When the fignal of alarm was given in any of the counties on the coast, then the first class of the force propofed to be trained to the use of arms should be immediately directed to march to the head quarters of the army in that district, or to any other place where their fervices might be confidered most useful. If this class was not fufficiently extenfive for the exigency of the moment, then of courfe the fervices of the other claffes would be required, and they would receive correfpondent orders. The next point to which he withed to allude was the mode of obtaining offers of voluntary fervice. The bill as it now ftood had been objected to on this ground, by an hon. Gentleman (Mr. Fox) whofe opinions on all fubjects had very great weight. He had paid attention to the fuggeftions thrown out on that occafion, and he meant to introduce into the bill fuch alterations as he believed would meet the hon. Gentleman's ideas. He meant to propose, that in districts where a sufficient number of offers of voluntary fervice were made, the operation of the bill fhould ceafe. With refpect to the fervices of the volunteer corps already formed, he intended that fome new regulations should be formed applicable to the case of invafion. He begged it, however, to be understood that thefe regulations would be introduced in another bill, and would not at all counteract the principles of their original offers of fervice. It was the fixed unalterable determination of Government not to violate those terms of fervice which were originally adopted. If a corps, accepted by Government, Jimited their fervices to a particular treet, he would allow that beyond that street their fervices could not be compelled without a voluntary offer on their part. The fundamental principle adopted by Government was, that when an engagement was formed, it fhould be adhered to with the utmoft fidelity. He had now only to advert to the mode in which the force to be embodied under the bill was to be trained and exercised. As to the period in the year to which the exercife was originally proposed to be extended, he had no difficulty in faying that he approved of the fuggeftion for extending it. The particular day allotted for the fervice as it now food was, he believed, conceived to be liable to very confiderable objection. So far as Scotland was concerned, he meant that the claufe for appointing the training on Sunday fhould be totally inapplicable. In England he was aware that the fame objection might to a certain

degree