Parties met be considered not only as highly prejudicial to the discipline and efficiency of the Army, but, as so much expence incurred for the levy of men, as distinguished from the performance of Regimental Duty. 3. F. That whilst the number of men rais. ed as above for the Regular Service, has in the latter year been reduced, the proportion of desertions in the army serving at Home has been rather increased, the proportion being, in the five successive half-yearly periods, as follows; 1 in 194 in 152 Desertions in Army at Home: Jan. 1805 to July 1805 July 1805 to Jan. 1806 Jan. 1806 to July 1806 1 in 275 1 in 243 July 1800 to Jan. 1807 1 in 236 Jan. 1807 to July 1807 - 4. That the expence of Levy Money for General Service has been reduced-for Ca valry, from 19l. to 15l. 4s. 6d.; and for Infantry, from 221. 8s. to 181. 12. 6d. But the term of service has also been reduced, from Service for Life, to Service for ten and seven years, which supposes two additional periods of enlistment, and consequently two additional Bounties in the course of a service of 21 years, exclusive of the additional pay and pensions above referred to. 6. That among the number raised in the first 6 mouths of 1807, being 11,411 men, 8,035 have been raised by the 54 Second Battalions; that is, by Officers recruiting to avoid reduction. 7. and 8. That, with the exception of 0,242 men transferred to Garrison Battalions, all men raised under the Army of Reserve and Additional Force Acts have been since enlisted into the Line, being of the age and height required by his Majesty's Regulations; and amongst the men so transferred to Garrison Battalions, are included all men who did not choose to enter for General Service, without reference to age or height. - 11. That the men volunteering from li mited to unlimited service, from the 1st July 1806, to 1st January 1807, received 10 guineas bounty for only extending their service from local to general service; whereas beforeat period (the bounty being the same), the men transferring themselves to the line, exchanged their service, not only from home to foreign service, but from service limited in point of time to service for life; and the men in the latter period, who refused to transfer their services, were ordered to be drafted into garrison battalions. VOLUNTEERS. Circular Letter from the Secretary at War; dated War Office, Aug. 10, 1807. Regulations, extending the pay and allow ances granted to Volunteer Corps of Artillery and Infantry, to men enrolled subsequently to the 24th July, 1800; and permitting the said corps to assemble upon permanent pay and duty; and determining the charge for inspections. I. The same pay and allowance as are granted to those members of Volunteer corps of Artillery and Infantry, enrolled prior to the 24th July, 1906, are extended from the 25th of April, 1807, to those men who may have been enroned therein subsequently to the 24th July, 1806, or who may be enrolled hereafter, not exceeding the establishment of the corps. Should any men be enrolled beyond the establishinent, they are, as formerly, to be considered as supernumeraries,II. Such men as may have been enrolled between the 24th of July 1806, and the 25th of April, 1807, can only be permitted to be charged for from the latter date. III. Such volunteer corps of artillery and infantry as shall not have exercised more than 16 days in the present year, have the option of assembling upon permanent pay and duty, under the conditions of the regulations which were in force in the year 1805 - IV. No corps is to be assembled for less than 10, or more than 14 days; and ir no instance are the number of days of exercise (including the days of inspection) and the number of days on permanent duty (including the days on the march) to amount together to more than 26; but it is understood that all volunteers shall muster for drill and exercise one day in each week that may be entitled to exemptions.-V. The non-commissioned officers, drummers, and private men, will be entitled to receive Is. per diem, each, as marching or bounty money, for the number of days they shall be assembled on permanent duty, over and above the pay and allowances of their respective ranks. allowance will, as formerly, be issued, in England, by the Receiver-General of the County, and in Scotland, by the Collector of the Cess. VI. This permission to Volunteer Corps of Artillery and Infantry, to assemble on permanent pay and duty, regard only the present year; such daty must, therefore, be performed previously to the 25th Dec., 1807.-VII. Those corps which may be desirous of thus assembling, must apply, as heretofore, through His Majesty's Lieutenant of the county, to the Secretary for the Home Department.-VIII. No extra pay is allowed for days of inspection; they are to be considered as ordinary days of exercise, and are to be charged for such, and to form part of the 20 days for which pay is allowed in the year. J. PULTENEY. This Frinted by Cox and Baylis, No. 75, Great Queen Street, and published by R. Bagshaw, Brydges Street, Covont Garden, where former Numbers may be had: sold also by J. Budd, Crown and Mitre, Pall Mall.. VOL. XII. No. 10.] LONDON, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1807. [PRICE 10D. "Sir, the last House of Commons, being sensible how narrowly this Nation escaped being ruined by a "sort of Monsters called Pensioners, which sat in the late Long Parliament, had entered into a Considera❝tion how to prevent the like from coming into future Parliaments; and, in order thereto, resolved, That "they would severely chastize some of those that had been guilty, and make the best Laws they could to prevent the like for the future: and for that purpose a Committee was appointed, of which Mr. Serjeant "Gregory, now Judge Gregory, was Chairman; by which, many Papers relating to that Affair, came to his Hands. Sir, I think it a business of so great Importance, that it ought never to be forgotten, nor "the Prosecution of it deferred. I have often heard, that England can never be destroyed but by itself: to have such Parliaments, was the most likely way that ever yet was invented. I remember a great "Lawyer said in this House, when it was debated in the last Parliament, "That it was Treason;" and he "gave many learned Arguments to make it out. Whether it be so or no, I will not now offer to debate; "but I think, that, when those that are the Legislators of the Nation are guilty of taking Bribes, to "undermine the Laws and Government of this Nation, they ought to be chastized as Traitors. It was "my Fortune to sit here a little while in the Long Parliament; I did observe that all those that had "Pensions, and most of those that had offices, voted all of a side, as they were direc'ed by some "great Officer, as exactly as if their Business in this House had been to preserve their Pensions and Offices, "and not to make Laws for the good of them that sent them here. How such Persons could any way be "useful for the support of the Government, by preserving a fair Understanding between the King and his "People, or, on the contrary, how dangerous they must have been, as instruments to bring in Arbitrary "Power, leave to every Man's Judgment. They were so far from being the true Representatives of the "People, that they wer; a distinct middle interest, between the King and the People; and their chief "business was to serve the end of some great Minister of State, though ever so opposite to the true In"terest of the Nation. Sir, this business ought never to fall, though there should be ever so many "Prorogations and Dissolutions of Parliaments, before any thing be done in it; I think it is the Interest of the Nation, that it should be prosecuted from Parliament to Parliament, as if there were an Im"peachment in against them. And, therefore, Sir, I would humbly move you to send some Members "of this House to Judge Gregory, tor the Papers he hath taken in his Custody relating to this Affair, that “so you may, in convenient time, proceed furter herein, as you shall think good. And, Sir, being there is a Report, that some of this House have now made a Bargain at Court for great Offices, in order ❝to vitiate and corrupt their Votes in this Ilouse, which may perhaps, be a false report and invented with "a design to cast a Reflection on such Members; yet, in order to satisfy the World, and vindicate this "House from the suspicion of their approving of such a practice, I pray, Sir, let there be a Vote past, "That no Member of this House shall accept of any Office under the Crown, during such time as he con"tinuer a Member of this House."- -Speech of Sir Francis Winnington, in the House of Commons, December 30, 1680. After a debate the House came to the following Resolutions.-1. “That the several Writings, Papers, and "Proceedings, relating to such Members of the late Long Parliament, who received Allowances out of the "Money appointed for Secret Services, be produced to this House." 2. Nem. con., "That no Member "of this House shall accept of any Office or Place of Profit, from the Crown, without the leave of this "House; nor any Promise of any such Office, or Place of Profit, during such time as he shall continue a Member of this House: and that all Oftenders herein shall be expelled."-Journals of the House of Commons, Vol. IX. p. 695. 353] SUMMARY OF POLITICS. PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT (continued from page 338).The mode of issuing Election Writs became a subject of discussion, towards the close of the session. The occasion was this: Mr. Jeffery, member for Poole, complained, that the writ, for holding the election for that place, had been unlawfully kept back from the returning officer, in order to serve the private ends of one or more of the candidates.The cause of detention, or rather the early possession of the writ, was traced to an attorney's clerk, who was brought to the bar of the Honourable House. The Honourable House ordered him to tell who it was that he gave the writ to; but he, alledging, that to make such discovery, would be a breach of honour, [354 refused to tell the Honourable House who it his messengers; but, in fact, that they paid him pretty handsomely for his granting them the favour.Any thing more foul; any thing better calculated to defeat the profess ed purposes of the writs; any abuse more daring and scandalous cannot well be conceived. What, however, was done, upon the discovery, upon the open avowal, upon the undisputed and indisputable allegation of it? Was the offender punished? No. Was he reprimanded? No. Was he desired to do so no more? No. Was he even blamed? No. Not even blame; but, the old panacea, an act of parliament, was proposed, in order to prevent the delay of the arrival of writs, in future. A bill was brought in by Mr. Barham, with a view to its being passed early next session, containing a long string of regulations for the transmitting of writs by the post. That these regulations will be less likely to be observed than the former regulations is, I think, certain; because, passing through so many hands, the writ may, at some place or other, be detained, for several days, without the possibility of proving any particular person to have committed the crime of wilful detention. But, the circumstance most worthy of notice, and, indeed, the only one worthy of much notice, as tending to expose the real state of things, is, that Mr. Barbam, proposed to make provision, that the present messenger of the great seal, as he would suffer a diminution of his emoluments by putting a stop to the sale of writs, should, for his life, receive, in lieu thereof, a compensation out of the public purse! I dare say now, that Mr. Barham is a great man for the constitution, which, indeel, he talked a good deal about at the time of proposing this measure. Oh, the invaluable constitution! It is an invaluable thing to some people, as Sir Francis Burdett observed upon the occasion of the advertisement of Lady Salisbury. That abuses, by whomsoever committe 1, if they are but committed against the public, are pretty sure to pass with impunity, when discovered, we have sufficient experience of. Upon this point both factions, seem to be perfectly agreed, seem to be animated with one and the same soul; but, that an abuse, when discovered and exposed, should have its gains, when taken away by putting a stop to the thing, compensated for, and that, too, by an act of parliament, is, I must confess, something new, even in England. When a man has been detected in frauds upon the revenue," and it is found, that he has long been a great gainer by such frauds, what is the consequence? He is most severely punished; he is sweated to his last penny; he is made to refund all his gains as far as they can possibly be ascertained, and is heavily fined into the bargain. What a contrast! And yet, what difference is there in the two cases, except that, in this latter, the man only retains that which, were it not for a taxing law, would be his own?" -This bill of Mr. Barham's is, comparatively speaking, a matter of small importance in itself; but, when viewed as a specimen of the manner in which abuses are considered by those who have, at present, the power to redress them, it is of great importance; it throws a clear light upon their inclination as to such matters; it can leave no doubt in our minds as to their motives; it is conclusive as to what we have to expect from them.--III. The Irish Insurrection Bill met with very little opposition in the Lords' House of Parliament; and, in the other House one hardly knows which to admire most, Mr. Grattan's conduct, in becoming the chief supporter of the bill, or Mr. Sheridan's in making no opposition to it, until it was too late, until he knew, until he must have known, that it was too late for his oppostion to produce any effect. Indeed, he did not oppose the bill; he only talked about it, loudly talked about it; but, at the same time took care to say, that he could not oppose it; and, when it was passed, called for an inquiry into the necessity of passing it! This was just one of his old tricks to obtain popularity; to catch the ap plause of the unwary and the ignorant; and to support, with the help of play ticketbribed editors of newspapers, a reputation for the possession of that which Le never possessed; namely, a regard for the liberties. and happiness of the people, that people, in the odium of extracting sacrifices from whom, be, in the hour of his Westminster triumph, all covered with play-house laurels and street-dirt as he was, boasted that he was ready to take his full share, to which he might safely have. added, that he was ready also to take his full share of the amount of such sacrifices. Of exactly the same description was his motion relative to the publicans' licences He promised the people, in Covent Garden, that he would bring in a bill to prevent the Police-Magistrates from having it in their power to ruin the publicans that had voted, or might vote, for Sir Francis Bur dett; and, what did he do?. He did nothing till the close of the session, and then he proposed a bill to extend to the power of all justices of the peace, in all parts of the king dom; a bill that he knew would never pasą; and, indeed, a bill that ought not to pass But, as he imagined, he did what would an AL swer his purpose, if not the purpose of the that it is done, liowever, it seems to be done less to express any degree of apprehension at page 338, where the writer has most ably, described the internal situation of Ireland.. But, I do not agree with him as to the remedy which he proposes. He seems to think, that we are better off than the Irish, only because we have more people employed in manufacturing goods;, whereas my: opinion is, that the manufactories are one source of our pauperism. We all know, that the manufactures have greatly in Pitt's reign, and we also know, that the paupers have increased; so that, here is nothing to encourage us to increase the manufactories of Ireland with a view of diminishing the misery of the country. If my corre spondent would wish to subdue the spirit of the people, I know of few better ways than that of shutting thousands of them up in a large house and making them work for one man, who rings them to their labour and their meals by a bell. A hundred of these houses in Ireland would certainly render the people, not contented, but perfectly impotent; and, if the mere preservation of the dominion of the country be all that is want good one. For my part, however, I should rather recommend an abolition, first of the useless offices and emoluments; next a large': deduction from the interest paid upon what.; is called the national debt; and next a change with respect to tithes. These would reduce the burdens of taxation, and that would, assuredly, diminish the poverty and I had lately (see this Vol. pages 236 and 257) occasion to address you upon the subject of the present dispute between our country and the American States; and, as you will recollect, the address proceeded in the manner of a commentary upon an article, which had just before appeared in a weekly newspaper, called the Independent Whig. The writer of that paper had x pressed in a a tone very vehement, his pprobation of what I had, in my paper of the preceding week, said re specting the, dispute in question. I had asserted, that our admiral and his captains had done well in the case referred to, and had exp essed my fears, that our ministers were disposed to yield, that they were disposed to give up our right to search ships of foreign rations for deserters from our own ships. This assertion the writer of the newspaper above-mentioned had severely attacked; and, as it was a point of great national importance, I thought it right to endeavour to maintain my assertion, by all the authority and all the arguments, which, at that time, suggested themselves to my mind. This I did in the two letters, addressed to you, which I have above referred to; and, as the writer of the Independent Whig had, subse quent to the publication of my first letter upon the subject, announced that he was perfectly prepared to answer me, and had been pressed, by many correspondents, to do it without delay, I naturally expected, that, after having taken a week to examine both my letters, he would, in his paper of last Sunday, have published what he regarded as an answer, What was my surprise, then, when, instead of an elaborate defence of the Americans and of their denial of our right of search, I found a very long and uncommonly desultory article upon the sins of Mr. Windham, Lord Grenville, Pitt, Lord Ilawkesbury, Lord Melville, Steele, Trotter, Mr. Fox, Mr. Sheridan, and Mr, Cobbett. A great deal, in this article, is true, and a great deal of it, though, perhaps, true in the facts, perfectly false (unintentionally, without doubt) in the inferences. Upon the whole, however, there is so much boldness, so many home truths told in this article, that I am glad it was published; and shall, at any time, be ready to thank the writer for making a criticism upon my conduct and character the vehicle of similar truths. But, it must be confessed, I think, by this writer himself, that neither, my sins nor my weaknesses nor my virtues: (if he will allow me to have any of the latter), have any thing to do with the question of Eng land's maritime dominion ; and, I must say, that it gives me satisfaction to perceive, that a person whose talents I greatly respect, and who has very recently expressed great admiration of me, upon comparing my character with my arguments in defence of my country's rights, found the former the most vulnerable of the two. For, as to any answer, which he has in reserve, it is quite incredible that he should have allowed another week to pass without giving it to the public, seeing that the time will be, and, indeed, already is, gone by, for such answer to produce any useful effect. Of this he must have been fully aware, and, therefore, I cans not regard his concluding notification, respecting an answer in reserve, in any light but that of a tacit acknowledgement, that he was, for once, in the wrong, which acknow ledgement he, doubtless, regards as tantamount to having inserted (as I usually do in such cases) the arguments made use of against him. At any rate, I am convinced, in my own mind, that he will find great difficulty in executing his promised refutation; but, if he should advance any thing which I think of weight in the question, and not too thickly covered with matter quite extraneous, I shall not fail to bestow upon it attention proportioned in degree to the impor tance of the subject. In the meanwhile, Gentlemen, our time will not be badly employed in bestowing some further consideration upon the subject itself, first noticing what we find, in the public prints, relative to the conduct of the Americans.- -The article, which I am about to insert for your perusal is, it appears, taken from a paper published at Norfolk, in Virginia, on the 13th of July last. This article is entitled: "Some Retaliation." It. is in these words: "Last evening an express "arrived at head-quarters to the command"ar, General Matthews, from Capt.. Shepherd, of the troop of cavalry stationed near the Cape. The intelligence the express brought is of great importance: it announces the first act of retaliation for "the outrages of the British squadron. The "substance of the intelligence, as far as we " " " |