defended by a regular army and disciplined militia, of two hundred and fifty thousand men, supported by the auxiliary force of four hundred thousand Volunteers, with the advantage of not being contiguous to the territory of our invaders, but separated from them by the Sea, which is our frontier, and guarded by those floating castles that ride in triumph upon its waves, and constitute, (if I may be allowed the expression) a chain of moveable fortresses, opposing a formidable barrier in every direction against the designs of the Invader !*

In fact, every remark I have made upon this subject, would, on any other occasion, have appeared to me puerile; but, after the ridiculous nonsense I have heard gravely maintained, in a certain place, where this important measure

There is no end to examples; but I cannot avoid noticing the conduct of the Volunteers of Suabia and the Palatinate in the campaign of 1798. They armed, formed themselves into regular corps, and, supported by a few detachments of Austrian cavalry, carried on a destructive war against the enemy, drove him from post to post, and confined him to the banks of the Rhine. Their associations could neither be dispersed nor broken, notwithstanding the atrocities exercised upon them by the French in the villages where they penetrated. They displayed an uninterrupted career of firmness, order, and courage.

has been treated with the levity of a game of ninė pins; and the most boding denunciations pronounced against the noble efforts of a nation armed with steel, principles, and public spirit, I trust, I shall be excused for having recurred to elucidations, which captious disputants alone. have rendered necessary.

It is not my intention to make use of the circumstance of the expulsion of the Austrians from Brabant, by volunteer levies, at the time of the Theocratic revolution in 1790; but, I shall conclude with an example taken from France itself. You have maintained at different times that the National Guards never did march to the frontiers, and secondly, that when they did arrive thither, they were killed off by thousands. In contradiction to the first, I positively assert that the National Guards did march to the frontiers; that I saw above sixteen thousand of them depart; that I passed them on their route, and beheld them on the field of battle attack and beat those veteran left-foot-foremost legions,. which had fought and conquered under Laudohn and Frederick. They too had been accustomed only to a weekly drill, and yet, in those actions which I had an opportunity of witnessing, there was no bush-fighting whatever; but the Volunteers

were arranged in the first line, and kept up, not a very rapid, but a very destructive fire on their opponents; and performed their movements with order and celerity. There were not less than 9000 volunteers with general Kellerman at the battle of Valmy; and above 50,000 of the force oganizing under Luckner at Chalons, were men of the same description. Perhaps, you will alledge, that the period alluded to, was a moment of great and exalted enthusiasm-what, then, is the present? I am willing to grant, however, that much stress ought not to be laid on the similitude between the National Guards of France and the Volunteers of Britain. The system subsided altogether after the first campaign; and with the exception of a few young enthusiasts of property, who returned to their homes after the retreat of the Austrians and Prussians, the residue enlisted into the line, and became regular soldiers, With respect to the assertions concerning the heaps of the slain at the battle of Jemappe, they are not true to the extent to which they have been carried. That there was a great sacrifice of lives, I do not dispute; but, had the army under Dumourier been composed wholly of regulars, their loss must have been immense; as the assault was made upon the Austrian army

deeply entrenched, in a position esteemed impregnable, and covered by a prodigious quantity of heavy ordnance, while the French were much inferior in artillery.

Upon the whole, I trust from all these facts, that, at least, an equal degree of courage, of facility in acquiring discipline, and of physical constitution, will be conceded to the British, as well as to the volunteers of the respective countries which have fallen under our review; and, that on the day of trial, their success will not be inferior. The experience of every intelligent officer must convince him, that the mere parade duty, or what may be justly called the dancing master's portion of a soldier's life, is of very little avail in the face of an enemy. All that is required from volunteers in the field to give effect to the dispositions of a skilful general, consist, in the commanding officer of every corps understanding distinctly the orders which he has to execute; taking care that his men perform them without confusion (precision cannot be expected) and, lastly, that they bring their pieces to a proper level, and take as steady an aim as possible, before they fire. Men who fight pro aris et focis, require no other discipline. If they were harassed with more, they would grow disgusted with the

service, and might become better soldiers, but would be worse volunteers. Now, as I have already shewn from the example of other free states, that volunteers, under far less favourable circumstances than we possess, have proved themselves fully able to defend their respective countries; it follows, that, by increasing their duties, we should diminish their zeal, and defeat the end of their institution.*

• What has been said above is additionally strengthened from several circumstances in the history of our own country. In 1642, the Earl of Essex relieved Gloucester with an army of London apprentices and other volunteers, who had been embodi ed in the short space of fifteen days; and the same force six weeks from the day of their enrollment completely defeated the disciplined army of the King, at the battle of Newbury. See Rushworth. vol. v. p. 53. After the battle of Edge-hill, Oct. 23. 1642. The royal army had been continually in the field, improving in dicipline and increasing in numbers. In the course of the winter, general King brought his Majesty a supply of ordnance from Holland, and general Goring a number of experienced officers, who were in the service of the states. The Queen joined on the 13th of July with a reinforcement from Holland of 2000 foot, 1000 horse, 100 waggons, laden with ammunition of all sorts, 6 pieces of cannon, and 2 mortars. The royal arms had been successful, and after the action of Chalgravefield, the Earl of Essex was compelled to retire into quarters, on account of the sickness of his troops, and their want of every necessary, On the 10th of Aug. the King invested Gloucester; and it was not until the 28th that Essex