might serve. The principle was not a good one. If we avoided the inconvenience of raising by bounty, and converted it into a fine, then we absolutely converted it into a pure tax. As to the mode of laying the sum, if we laid a million, it might not, in the state of the wealth of this nation, be considered as any thing; it might not be felt: but if we divided it into shares of 201. each, we should make it operate severely on objects; we should crush many individuals; we should draw blood at every stroke. All our late schemes to obtain men had been defective; which arose from our leaving the military life destitute of proper advantages. We had been driving a false trade, and taking goods to market not worth the money we asked. The thing offered had not been worth the acceptance of the men whom we wished to engage. What then is to be done? Why, make the military life more desirable. There are two ways, bounty or ballot. There was a time when scarcely any bounty was given. Officers were even reproved in the beginning of the American war for having given recruits the sum of two guineas. Then the service stood on its natural foundation, and the bounty was the service-a military office was fairly offered to all those who liked a military life. The military life was a spe cies of trade: in most trades it was customary frequently to pay a premium for an apprenticeship to learn the art and mystery; but here we give a man a premium to take our bargain off our hands: a proof that our system is wrong. The army can never be in its natural state, till we can revert to its situa tion forty years ago. In other a vocations of life men could always be had by adopting proper means:

why not take the usual mode of traders, by the fair operations of a fair bargain offered to the popula tion of the country? Let recruit, ing have fair play let it go to the wakes and the fairs and other coun try meetings-let it travel about as well as the additional force bill. When the trade was fair, there could be no objection to a good advertisement; but it was when the trade is an unfair one that he con demned the arts of seduction. One method of making the military life more estimable was that of raising the pay: but too much pay would soon promote licentiousness, and that would occasion a necessary in creased severity of discipline, which would diminish the attraction.→→→→ There was a dignity attending the profession of arms, that animated the people with a desire of a mili tary life. They could be paid in this way of life, by distinctions, cheaper than in any other; and government had in its hands means, possessed by no private trader, of conferring honours suited to the different ranks and conditions. But there was another thing that would assist us prodigiously; which was altering the nature of the service to a limited term: this would bring the constitution, in one material point, to a resemblance to the ar mies on the continent, and to no small portion of our own. The hundred thousand men he had be fore alluded to, all served on such terms with respect to time. He was always fearful of making any unnecessary changes, he had that principle strong on his mind; but still he could never entertain any apprehension upon this subject He might even say it opened the door to improved discipline, by rewards, and by lessening the fre quency of corporeal punishments, G4

which,

which, however, he knew could not be entirely abolished. When there were spirits in great numbers, discipline must be maintained rigidly; but he thought various means might be applied to diminish the evil, and above all by getting a better description of men into the service. His conviction was, that it would improve the discipline. Then came the subject of desertion. But if the noble lord (Castlereagh) would examine into the state of a recent act, he would find not fewer than one-fifth of the number raised had deserted. This was one of the consequences of pursuing that vicious system of purchasing by high bounties. The objection to a li mited time of service which seemed to him to have most weight, was that respecting foreign and colonial service, and this was particularly important in considering a British army. But it must be admitted that this objection was a distant one, and gave time enough for the adoption of various modes of obviating any of the ill effects supposed.

In the variety of opinions he had heard upon this subject, he found that one of the objections which was principally rested upon was the enormous expense that would attend the renewing the agreements for an additional time of service. This objection, however, rested .entirely upon the supposition that the present system of high bounties was to be held up: he however must suppose that the immediate tendency of improving the situation of the military service, would be to diminish the bounties, which would be from that time in a course of decrease. It was also urged that it would be a prodigious loss to our armies, if, at the expiration of every year, we were to lose so con

siderable a portion of our force; and those who urged that objection stated, that if the term of service were for seven years, one seventh of the whole number of the army would be reduced each year; or if the term were eight years, it would of course be one-eighth. In this calculation, however, they appear. ed to forget casualties, and that many must die in the service; and that therefore this proportion was not to be calculated on the same principle as a common annuity: nor would it happen that the numbers who, at the end of seven years service, could claim their discharge, would amount to the seventh part of the army; which would be to suppose that there were neither casualties nor death in the service. Neither would he allow, by any means, that it was probable that all who were entitled to their discharge would claim it; but, on the contrary, if the service were made more attractive, he thought the number would be inconsiderable. It was therefore his opinion, that, in the first place, from the reduction of the bounties the expense would not be any thing near so great as was apprehended. 2dly, That it was not all who were entitled to their discharge who would claim it: and, 3dly, He was sorry to say, that in the course of nature, and of the service, all would not live to be entitled to claim their discharge at the expiration of the appointed time of service. It was supposed that all the soldiers in foreign service would be to eager obtain their discharge. This, however, was by no means his opinion. If the choice were merely between serving in one place or another, many might wish to change the place of their service; but when the choice was only whether they

should

should serve or not, he believed there were many who would be very unwilling to quit the service, although they might not exactly like the particular service that had fallen to their lot. So far, therefore, from fearing a great diminution of our army in consequence of this privilege, he felt convinced that the number of soldiers that the nation would lose by the discharges that would be so claimed, would be nothing equal to the number that it would gain by the knowledge that, at the expiration of the appointed time for service, every soldier had a right to claim his discharge. As to desertion, there were many cases where good and excellent soldiers, in some moment of caprice or passion, might be tempted to desert: he thought that the act of desertion should deprive them of the advantages of a certain number of years of their service, which might be settled in such a manner that even a courtmartial could not restore them. This, he thought, would in many cases be a proper punishment for the offence. When, however, the chance of desertion from an army for limited service was spoken of, he must say it was contrary to reason and nature to suppose that desertions would be so frequent as they would be from a force for an unlimited period. To suppose the contrary would be something like the supposition of men actually preferring smaller bounties to greater. He then proceeded to state the term of years which appeared to him the fittest for the period of military service. The inclination of his mind was, that seven years was the properest term. Seven years was a term familiar to the nation, and nothing more than the generality of all apprenticeships to

trades. He thought that it was also such a term as would combine the service which the country had a right to expect, with the attractions that were to induce individual's to enter into the service. After the first period of seven years, he thought the soldier should be entitled to his discharge, and to some privileges, at least equal to what are now given to militiamen. If the soldier should wish to renew his engagement for a second term of seven years, then he should propose that, during this period, he should have a small increase of pay, perhaps about sixpence a week additional. The reason that he named so small a sum was, that, as he had before mentioned, he knew that large sums led to licentiousness and insubordination; and therefore wished that the advantage should be given them in another shape. In the third period, he should propose a still further increase of pay; he should say, at least a shilling a week additional. At the end of the second period, as well as of the first, the soldier should be entitled to his discharge. It was also strongly the inclination of his mind, that after the expiration of the second period of service the soldier should receive a pension of some sort or another for his life. In speaking of the term of seven years, he meant that this should be the term of service for the infantry; the cavalry and the artil lery required a longer time of service, as it took more time to make a good horse-soldier, or artilleryman, than it did to make an infantry-soldier. He should therefore propose, that, in the cavalry and artillery, instead of three dif ferent periods of seven years each, the first period should be ten years, the second six, and the third five

years;

years; at the expiration of which periods they should have the same privileges and rewards as he had before mentioned. He could not avoid considering that such a system as that would promote the recruiting service far beyond any thing which had ever before been adopted. When men who had served their country, and distinguished themselves in its battles, should return to their homes young and unbroken in their constitution, and tell their neighbours what they had seen, and the varieties of life they had undergone, he was convinced that every man of them who so returned to his native country, and the town where he was born, would do more real and important service than he could have done in the field had he continued in the army. At the expiration of the second period of service, he considered that there should be some pension allowed; but at the expiration of the third, he thought the soldier should be perfectly a freed man, and go off with the full allowance from Chelsea. When he spoke of the Chelsea allowance, he did not mean what it now was, he meant that it should be raised considerably higher, and should be at least ninepence or a shilling a day. There were many other improvements which he was convinced would be very beneficial, but there was nothing which he considered of so great moment as the change in the manner of recruiting. Until this were adopted, he could have no hopes of any very important advantage. The plan that he had proposed, was not merely for the future provision, but also for the immediate benefit of every person in the military life, whether officers or soldiers; and its object was to make the military life as agreeable

1

and as attractive as possible. What he had then presented was a mere outline, which would be filled up in the future stages of its discussion; and he hoped, at least, that a quantum sufficit would be retained of every thing that was likely to be useful in it. He should next come to that objection, which of all others appeared to be most relied on. It was asked, What do you mean to do with the army that is now in existence? To this he should answer, that, in strict justice and in equity, he need do nothing. Our regular army had, in point of fact, seen numbers enlist into the army of reserve, and into every description of force for limited ser vice, for five years, or for seven years, or for whatever term that service required. This, however, could not justly be considered any hardship to those who had, an tecedently to that time, entered for general service; nor did he ever hear that it had been consi dered a hardship. Every man's term of service depended on the circumstances of his engagement. It would be just as absurd for men who entered for low bounties, to complain that they were ill-used if greater bounties were given to other men who should afterwards enter into the service.The regular army had been used to see every description of limited service. They were, therefore, too well used to the practice to complain of it; and besides, in the strictest equity and justice, they had no right to complain. It was, however, his intention to propose for the regular army, as a boon, that which they had no right otherwise to expect; he should propose immediately to increase the Chelsea allowance to 6d. 9d. and Is. a day. This he should wish to do from

justice,

justice, kindness, and humanity to the regular army: but if he had no other motive than policy, it would be sufficient to determine him; for ..he knew no other means to demonstrate to the soldiers the concern that the country takes in their wel fare, nor of holding out incitements to others to embark in the military profession, than by rewarding those meritorious and interesting men who had so long and so well served their country. If this were done, and it should be done immediately, every man in the army would see that he had a chance, however distant might be the period, of partaking in what the bounty of the nation had provided for its defenders, when they should have merited the rewards from their long services. According to this plan, no man would be finally discharged from service until he had served twenty-one years; but at the end of that time he should be perfectly freed, and enjoy the pension allotted to him. In the mean time, those who were in the second or third period of their service should receive the increase to their pay that he had before mentioned. Such a provision ashe had described would, he was convinced, be received as a most important boon by the regu. lar army now existing. Another great branch of the subject then presented itself to his view: it had been of late years a problem in political science, what was to be done with that part of the population of a country which could not be brought forward in the shape of an army? He had already given his opinion, that they could not well be brought forward in any of those decisive actions which usually decided the fate of nations. The difficulties of carrying the compulsory enactments of the levy en

masse act into force were such, that it appeared to him much better first to try what voluntary service would do. Although that suggestion had originally come from him, it certainly was not then in his contemplation that this vo luntary spirit was to be employed in such a manner as it had been in the volunteer corps which were afterwards formed. He saw that the spirit of the people was then at such a pitch, that they appeared only to denand of government, or of the house, "Tell us what we are to do to be, useful to the country." Under those circumstances, it had been his opinion, that the people should have immediately been allowed an opportunity of training themselves, under the instruction of officers from the regu lar army appointed for that purpose. He thought there should be deposits of arms in every district, and, as he might say, shops of military instruction opened all over the country. Besides the assistance of regular officers, he thought the zeal of the gentlemen of the coun try might assist powerfully in training the people to arms, both by their own example, and by giving small prizes for firing at marks. All this could have been done with less trouble, and much less expense, than had been bestowed on the volunteer system. At the same time he thought it was proper, that there should be armed associations of the better sort of people, entirely at their own expense; but it was not upon such armed associa tions that he thought the country should principally rely in aid of its standing army. What he considered as much more likely to be effectual, was the mass of the people of the country trained to firing, with the neighbouring gentlemen,

and