fuch an occafion. I fhould, he faid, be very unwilling to ferve und ran officer appointed by the Crown to command me, without any choice of my own. The volunteer fyftem, to which Minifters have had recourte becaufe they could not procure an ally upon the continent, is not the beib either for economy or for military efforts; but when it wa, retorted to, no one exerted himself more than I have done to give it effect. And here it is impotible not to animadvert on the wavering plans of Minitters. A general defence act is produced: four hundred and fifty thousand men inrolled themfelves, men of all deferiptions, whose zeal, however incompetent many might be, cannot be too much applauded. Then comes an order to reduce chem to fix times the militia. How much this damped the ardor of the country is too well known, as it became difficult to periuade many to inrol their names, when they found that the friends with whom they had allociated were not allowed to go with the into the field. The Minifters explain, and the fpirit is renewed: but did they or did they not mean to exempt the volunteers from the army of referve? They did not. I informed the corps I was then railing, that they would not be exempted; yet, to their honour, every man was equally willing to become a volunteer. But what happened? they were afterwards exempted from militia and army of referve. What was the refult? an impoffibility of filling up, properly, either the militia or the army of referve. Another difficulty occurs. The Minifors apply to the Attorney and Solicitor General, and their opinion is fent round to all the Lieutenants of counties. It was acted upon by several magiftrates, till the Court of King's Bench very properly fet it afide; and I was furprifed to hear the introducer of this debate declaring his opinion to have always coincided with that of the judges. With respect to the economical part of the fykem, they err much who fuppofe it will be fo to the public. The expence is the fame to the public, whether the fum is advanced by individual fubfcription or general tax. Another point, which requires great attention, is the liability of every corps to be fuddenly diffolved, either from internal difagreements or the want of funds for its fupport. Recourfe to fubfcription is fallacious, and fair con- tribution will not take place, till the wants of the volunteers are fupplied by the national treafury. Another point is the reftriction of pay to those officers only who have been in the army for the intruction of the men; but time and labour cannot be expected to be given up for mere praile, nor can many afford it. I have thus spoken as confidering the present a molt important moment; that it is the duty of the Minifter to provide the means for national defence, and a member of parlament to fpeak his fentiments upon fuch means, in order to bring them to the beftiate of which they are fufcepti ble. Mr. Windham expreffed his general difapprobation, Colonel Eyre his warm approbation, of the volunteer fyftem; the latter not doubting that it would form a bulkwark to the country, that might fet every attack at dance. Sir J. Wrottelley recommended caution to the Houfe on the meature propofed to make the quarters for the m litia and army of referve herved in the districts which had not valid a certain proportion of volunteers. Mr. Yorke replied to everalobjectors, denying that the inciple of electing of ficers was ever recognized by govern ment. He had never accepted an of fer made upon fuch a principle; and indeed, from the very nature of military fervice, it could not be recognized. Was the election to take place upon the field of battle on the death of an offcer in action? He did not deny the right of recommending, but there was a great difference between that of the right of electing. Mr. Whitbread requested an explanation of the elec tion of officers in the London and Weftmintter light horfe, if the right of elect ing was denied ; to which Mr. Yorke replied, that that was old corps with peculiar privileges, and the original compact between the crown and the corps determined the mode of election; but in respect to the volunteer corps in general, no fuch compact had been made or understood. Mr. Whitbread warned Minifters of the mischievous confequences that might entue if a meafure was precipitated involving rights which were not fo flightly to be pafled over. A very defultory debate now took place. Mr. Sturges agreed with Mr. Whitbread, that the alterations propofed in the volunteer fyftem amounted to a breach of national faith. The At- The Chancellor of the Exchequer obferved, that the objections he had heard might be reduced to three: 1lt, that the motion ought to have been fubmitted to a committee of the whole Houfe; 2lly, that the whole of the mea fure was inefficient; and, 3dly, that the expectations of the public would be difappointed. With refpect to the firit, it was not warranted by precedent: to the fecond and third, it was not fuppofed to be a perfect fyftem, but a meature of the greatest importance to the interefts of the country, and on which its future falvation and profperity principally depended. On the election of officers a differen of opinion prevailed; but, in difcuffing the fubject, it may be hereafter placed on a footing to give fatisfaction to all parties. As to the right of reigning, if it had not been establihed by a court of law, he thould have confidered himself bound to advise the Houle to pafs a law, declaring fpccifically the right of refignng, except when the enemy was in the country, or on our fhores. As to the defects in the. fyiten, let it be our bulinefs to remedy them. The good fenfe of the people will operate with us, and it would be abfurd to ftop the great inftrument of our fafety. Gentlemen are not to be put out of conceit with a fyftem, which, by temper and moderation, they may improve, and whofe object it is to promote the effectual exertions of a loyal people in defence of their country and conft.tu tion. VOL. I. Sir W. Young difapproved of the whole of the fyftem, as interfering with the King's prerogative to call out, in cafe of danger, the whole ftrength of the country. It had injured both army and militia by its exemptions. He wished every man to be called upon for every exertion in the defence of his country, and fhould be glad to fee revived the practice of the days of Henry the Eighth, when the youth of the country were feen on the Sundays exerciling with the military weapons then in ufe. To this duty they were compellable by statute, and now every one ought to be trained to the ufe of the mufquet. The armed force of this empire, fo trained, might bid defiance not only to France, but to the combined powers of all Europe. The question was carried, and certain members of the Privy Council ordered to prepare and bring in the bill. The bill was, of course, brought into the House, and an animated debate took place previous to the fecond reading of it, on Feb. 27, which Mr. Grenville opened by an invective rather on Minifters, and a retrofpect of the past, than an examination of the question before the House. Mr. Yorke refused to follow him through fuch an irrelevant difcuffion: he fhewed that the volunteer fyftem had not been injurious to the recruiting fervice, by the number of recruits that had been taken from different corps; he vindicated his former opinion on the election of officers, ftated the number of arms that had been delivered, explained his grounds for circulating the opinion of the Attorney General, which he ftated to be his duty to do, as doubts had been entertained on the subject, and reference made to the law officers of the crown; and he trusted that the Houfe would go into a committee, and give to the meafure before them every improvement that their wisdom would fuggeft. Mr. Pitt confidered it not to be a question, whether the fyftem was radically wrong, or inadequate to its object, but what defects now known by experience may be removed. Every inftruction he conceived thould be communicated to the volunteers to affimilate them to the regular army. Drills only for twenty days in the year were not fufficient; and he recommended that the volunteers fhould go on permanent duty for two or three S s weeks, which might be done at the expence only of two or three hundred thousand pounds. Something thould be done alfo to enforce attendance on drills, ether by fines or arreit, until the civil magiftrate could be applied to, who might commute the fine for two or three days' imprisonment. He was for the commanding officer confulting the temper of the corps in the nomination of officers, but decifively against election by their fuffrages. À fyltem alfo fhould be provided for regularly recruiting the army, fomewhat modelled on the principle of the Army of Referve, which, if it might prefs upon fome parikes, he could only fay fhould be foftened, if it could not be remedied; and if capable neither of being foftened or remedied, it ought to be endured. A limitation to bounties was delirable, to put a stop to thofe pets of fociety--the crimps; and to do this, a certain number of regiments fhould be recruted in certain counties by a ftationary recruiting officer. More attention thould be paid to our fortifications and naval defence; but thefe and other points he fhould wave for a future opportunity, preffing only upon the floute the neceility of unanimity, and abftaining from all party remarks in fo important a queftion. luded to had been turned out of the corps with difgrace. He then alluded to the naval defence of the country, which be ftated to be fuch, and fo it appeared from his detail, as mult give complete fatisfaction. Mr. Pitt was not convinced by this latement, but withed to know what progreis had been made in the fpecies of defence fuited to fhallow water. Mr. Whitbread, animadverting on the volunteer fyltem, conceived it to be of a very frail texture, and that the country must return to the measures of the Defence Act. There was no economy in the pretent fyfiem, no post:hility of enforcing difcipline. He did not expect perfection in minute parts, but the great movements of the machine thould have been brought into fuch order as to effect their original purpose. No part of the fyftem is free from embarratinent; no part is underftood: all is confufion. Minifiers talked of danger like children, and were, like children, in danger. To prevent comm trees was impofiible. An impartial examination of the volunteer frength fhould be demanded. There was no need of exciting the fpirit of the country by brutal and ferocious prints or violent language, for our only danger was, that Minifiers continued to act without any plan or fyftem whatfoever. Mr. Tierney then expla ned the difpute which had taken place in his corps, and Mr. Fox paid fome deferved compliments to Lord St. Vincent and the state of naval prepara t ons. He was furprifed at Minters alerting it to have been their intention to give the volunteers the power of refigning, fince their conduct feems to mark an approbation of the Attorney General's opinion. He thould not imitate a late Minilter in propoing regula‐ tions, fince without the odour of office there was little chance of their eng adopted. We muti place great depend Mr. Windham did not accede to the opinion of attimilating the volunteers to the regular army, but would use them rather as an armed peafantry. He alluded to the ditturbances at Chefter; whence he inferred, that the Minilters had erected a force of which they now flood in awe. He did not with the country to be a military country, and this was not the mode even of effecting that purpofe; but the Ministers were ferioully called upon to atone for their late m fconduct, by abouring to create an effective force which could co-operate with, or fupport, the regular force of the country, when the urgency of the occafion fhould re-ance on the volunteer fyftem, and with quire. Lord Caftlereagh contended, that no one expected in the volunteers the perfect on of regular troops; but, on the other hand, inattention to difcipline was equally improper. A medium was to be preferved. Me faw no danger in the fyitem; and as to the difturbance at Chefter, it mit be allowed that occafional irregularities took place even in the reguar aray; and the perions who had been guilty of the outrage al all its defects t mult be embraced, though it was fomewhat extraordinary that at this time it should be neceflary to begin regulations about attendance on drills and filence in the ranks. As to the right of election, he conceived that it might be left to the good fenfe of the people. He hoped, in spite of every thing that the Minifters had done, that the volunteers would not be bullied out of their determination to defend the country; and be was coll vinced that a period would foon arrive when Parliament would think it its duty to enter into a general enquiry into the fate of public defence, which was neither adequate to the means with which Minifters had been entrufted, nor to what our fituation required. The Chancellor of the Exchequer began with a vindication of the Admiralty, denied that he had faid that the volunteers had not the right of refigning; for, had he been aiked the queftion, he must have replied, that it had never occurred to him, and, if it had, he thould have faid that the right of re fignation was the very offence of the volunteer fyftem. He declared that Minifters were ready to liften to any fuggeftions to improve the fyftem, from whatever quarter they came; and, hoping that the bill would be committed on Wednesday, he would confider them with the utmost attention. After fome oblervations from Mr. Grey and Mr. Markham on the ftate of the navy, and a reprimand, by the former, of Minifters for circulating the opinion of the Attorney General, the bill was order ed to be committed on Wednefday. LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS IN MARCH 1804. As this Department will be of great Importance to LITERATURE, and to AUTHORS and BOOKSELLERS in general, it is requefied that they will forward NOTICES of their Works as carly as pofible (free of Poflage), which will be regularly inferted. Work, with Reference to their Situation. Imperial theet folio, containing 46 Maps, coloured and hot-prefled, 71 7s hali bound. HISTORY. 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