Vol. III. No. 10.

Saturday, September 5, 1807.

Price 10d.

177

OF THE POLICY SUITED TO THE EXIGENCIES OF THE TIMES. It was my intention to have reserved the agitation of this subject, as was stated in my last number, until I had laid before the public the plan of national defence, which I then announced; but, upon more mature deliberation, I have resolved to devote this paper to the full investigation of both these topics, because they are closely connected, and, indeed, cannot be separated from each other. While we propose measures which we think will be productive of general safety, we ought not to overlook the means which already exist, and which have been put into execution; neither ought we, in suggesting other plans, to appear insensible of the good which has been wrought by the assiduity and efforts of the government. But, though we are bound to acknowledge the advantages that the country derives from the late regulations, especially the excellent plan for the augmentation of the regular army, by volunteers from the militia; yet, it would not be difficult to shew, that the meastre, highly productive as it has been, and is likely to be, for some time, is only a temporary expedient, and that, if frequently resorted to, it would prove, at length, to be a tedious and burthensome resource, besides being disproportionate to the exigencies of the times. Unfortunately, whenever projects of improvement in our civil or military affairs have been started, they have rarely met with a calm and dispassionate examination; so that questions of the highest moment are debated by all descriptions of persons, in general, not according to their own intrinsic merits, but rather with a view to their effects upon the strength of the different parties under which the people, for the most part, arrange themselves. This is a lamentable misdirection of the public spirit; and though I be sensible, that all the reasoning in the world will make no impression upon those whose minds are thus influenced; yet the sense of their country's immediate dangers, and even a regard to their own personal safety, should induce them to wave their party-affections, when great questions of national policy are submitted to their judgment. More than this no one can expect; for the evil of party, if it be one, seems to be co-existent with the prevalence of a free constitution. We have had, within the last hundred years, more volumes, and pamphlets of dissertations, published upon the pernicious effects of parties than would suffice to set a kingdom on fire; yet neither our fathers, nor ourselves, have seen a solitary year pass away, without witnessing their effects, and which, after all the denunciations thundered against them, have not been shewn to be incompatible with the existence of public liberty, and a well-ordered government. In fact, the good or evil which parties may occasion, will be found to arise rather in eccentric moments, than during the ordinary course of affairs; therefore, without detaining the reader with a laboured disquisition upon the theory of practice of parties, I shall confine myself to the bare repetition of my former observation, that, under whatever denomination of politics men may class themselves, they ought to bring the utmost impartiality and disinterestedness into the investigation of subjects, involving the existence itself of their country. On account of the general inattention to this rule of prudence, for some years back, it has been thought useful to make these reflections; for the evil that we cannot altogether prevent, we may certainly render less obnoxious by good management.

The constitution of this country, happily for the people who live under it, can conform itself to every change in human affairs, except to the establishment of despotic authority, and democratic licentiousness. Its primary qualities, and chief excellence, consist in its being progressive; in its keeping pace with the moral condition of the people, and in the easy enlargement and adaptation of its fundamental principles, to the most critical exigencies of national affairs. From this grand and consoling truth, we derive a species of consecrated encouragement in the pursuit of measures, whose tendency is to strengthen and uphold the venerable edifice, which gives shelter to every one from oppression and wrongs. Hence, it follows, that alterations

VOL. III. —NO. 10.

proportioned to times and circumstances, which have become unavoidable in any parts of the general system, constitute no infringements of fundamental principles; they are, on the contrary, accessories employed for the express purpose of securing the duration of those principles. For it should be observed, that our present situation cannot be compared with any thing similar to it in the former annals of our country; nor, indeed, is there to be traced, throughout all the records of ancient or modern times, a single instance of a nation being cast into a predicament resembling our present one. Experience, therefore, will not assist us; nor can we derive a lesson of wisdom even from the analogies of history, or any correspondence in the transactions of human affairs. This seems, at first sight, to be a melancholy reflection, and it may, with propriety, be asked, where shall we now look to acquire the elements of public security? I answer, to the genius, courage, and virtue of the nation, excited by a thorough understanding of the qualities, means, power, and savage disposition of the enemy. We want no change in our general system; we require only that some portions of it should be modified, and that others should be enlarged. When men talk, or write, about the necessity of a radical change, as they express it, they mean a total revolution in our national institutions, which could not even be attempted, without involving the country in scenes of desolation and mischief, that no one can contemplate without horror. The practical benefits of our system are too visibly felt, especially when contrasted with the wrecks of institutions which are falling in pieces around us. In every thing connected with our civil establishments, we find much to cherish, little to condemn, and that little, which is susceptible of improvement, actually improving with time and experience. It is chiefly in certain parts of our political and military regulations, that vigorous measures are requisite, in order to be correspondent with the magnitude of our dangers. Even, in these cases, we cannot, strictly speaking, avow, that they are fundamentally bad; since they have done their portion of good; the worst that may be said of them is, that they are defective, and not adequate to meet the present exigencies of the times. To point out these defects, is to prove our patriotism; and though our projects may not be, in themselves, exempt from imperfections, still the discussion has a tendency to provoke reflection upon matters of acknowledged importance, and to sharpen our wits by the exercise it affords them. At all events, no injury can possibly arise from remarks and proposals, which have for their sole object the good of the state; if they should be deemed impracticable or hazardous, the wisdom of the government, and the good sense of the people, will assuredly reject them; if they contain rational and desirable principles, whether in whole or in part, they will be thought worthy of some deliberation; and, eventually, though they may not be adopted as originally laid down by the projector, yet they may give birth to other means more easy of execution, and better adapted to promote the cause that we all have in view.

Having thus far paved my way, by this preliminary exposure of my political sentiments, I flatter myself there will be no necessity for my being diverted from the main object of our inquiries, in order to reply to insinuations or invectives. The subjects into which I am going deeply, have no relation whatever to what are known in this country by the name of party-politics: they relate to no particular administration, and are personal to no man; but they embrace interests which are common to all, and their basis is the honour and independence of the British empire. If I should be found to deviate a single step from the true and fundamental principles of our constitution, I desire that I may be instantly corrected, and my readers may rest assured, that I shall receive the correction with gratitude. In the mean time, however, it is my duty, as a public writer, to submit the results of my labours and reflections to thinking men, who will be competent judges of the propriety, or impropriety, of my suggestions; and fearlessly to recommend the adoption of measures, which, according to my mode of thinking, are sure to terminate our perils with glory and sécurity to ourselves, and to cover our insatiate foes with defeat and shame.

Our present circumstances are new; therefore, we must provide new means to meet them. We cannot controul events, but there are many occasions when they may be turned to our advantage, however inauspicious their appearance at first sight. The necessity of resorting to new means, must generate new ideas; and if every

one will keep the same object in view, which I here profess to follow, from the collision of many different sentiments, we shall be able to strike out sparks of truth, which may serve to lighten our path to the goal of public security. In order to facilitate my own progress, and to avoid the imputation of being dogmatical, upon points which may be liable to controversy, I shall employ a convenient fiction; and,' as the reader is advertised of its motive, no apology is necessary for making use of it. I suppose, then, that an Englishman, who had passed a considerable time in foreign countries, returned to his native land, immediately after the peace of Tilsit. This person has made politics, and military affairs, the study of his life. He has seen the troops of every power in Europe, excepting the Russian, and has obtained a knowledge of their respective methods of recruiting their forces, of their organization, discipline, and mode of operations; he has also been present during several very active campaigns, and has seen the troops of our enemies frequently engaged on the field of battle. He has likewise been an eye-witness of most of the stormy scenes of the French revolution, and is reputed to be well acquainted with the genius and character of that people, as well as of their chiefs. He is neither a fawning sycophant to men in power, nor a brawler for liberty amongst the mob; but considers himself to be perfectly free to think and to act as he may judge proper, consistently with his duties as a subject, He is an ardent lover of his country, and no man exceeds him in zeal for its honour and welfare. He takes every opportunity of being present at the reviews of our forces, whether militia, volunteers, or regulars; and he does not hesitate to ride forty miles in all weathers, rather than be absent from such instructive scenes; and on his return home, he is in the habit of noting, upon paper, whatever he considers to be worthy of remembrance. Now I suppose that this person had an interview with one of his majesty's ministers, who, in the course of conversation, expressed a wish that he would turn his thoughts to the best means of defending the nation, and commit them to paper, without confining himself to a formal mode of arrangement, but communicate his ideas just as they suggested themselves to his mind. From this invitation I suppose that our traveller, after having taken a comprehensive survey of the actual relative state of Great Britain and France, with their respective dependencies, would transmit several memoirs to the minister upon the different topics, and compose them in the epistolary style, as more familiar and convenient, and also more susceptible of occasional digressions.

These postulates being granted, we shall proceed to the memoirs, each of which will prescribe certain rules of conduct in a general outline: the objections, with their answers, and the details of measures, I allot to myself.

MEMOIR 1,

The question to be considered is not how to create a competent force to sup port the national independence, and to make our power felt abroad, but how to make the best use of the different descriptions of forces which we already possess for the attainment of those purposes. And here I must be allowed to observe, that the task of giving a new form, and of introducing any considerable alteration in the discipline of armed bodies, already organized, and not habituated to the exercise of strict military duties, is, in many respects, more difficult and perplexing than the first formation of an army under a well-digested system; for you have to encounter the prejudices, and the self-importance, of men who have not been trained ab initio to the principles of true military subordination. In such an undertaking, you must expect to incur, at first, some degree of unpopularity; but this should not intimidate dishearten you; for the obvious necessity of the measure will soon be apparent to every one whose good sense will suggest to him, that his personal welfare depends upon the adoption of a reform, which will triple his individual powers, and ensure thereby, the safety of his country at a less expense, and with a greater diminution of his personal inconvenience, than according to the present system. Whence we may conclude, that if we can make the necessity of amendment generally felt, the expe diency of enforcing it will not long be disputed. In military affairs, it is a matter of the first importance, that your point of departure should be well chosen; when this is accomplished, every succeeding operation is effected with ease and simplicity. "In other arts," quoth Digges, "errours are not so daungerous but, upon better deliberation, they may be corrected; but in these militare causes, especially in matter of invasion,

an erronious resolution at the first may utterly overthrow the state for ever. I would wishe this matter, of so great importance, effectually considered before imminent daunger while time is. And so is there no doubt (the naturall fortification of this island considered) with the great store of shipping and mariners, and the aboundance of armour and weapons now in England, and able bodies also to use them, if they were duely trayned and exercised, but we may with good order repell the furie of all forraine enemies whatsoever."*

Relying, therefore, upon the public spirit, good sense, and good nature of the persons composing the bodies, whose constitution requires amendment, I shall begin with them, because they are the most numerous, but the least efficient portion, of our armed population. But there are several preliminary matters to be recommended, which, though not, strictly speaking, of a military description, are nevertheless so connected with our military institutions as to form their basis.

/It must be admitted, that we have arrived at a new epoch of the present war, which, from its aspect, requires that we should not confine our plans to the mere purpose of satisfying a momentary exigency. Prudence dictates that our arrangements should be framed with a view to the probability of our being placed in situations of difficulty, not only next year, but the year following, and, perhaps, for many years: at the same time, it is equally probable, that, if we present to the enemy the formidable front that I shall hereafter propose, our dangers will be materially diminished, and the duration of the war greatly abridged. The preliminary articles to which I allude, relate to those dispositions of internal economy which are indispensably necessary to all military operations; and yet they are, generally, so little understood, and the requisite information respecting thein is obtained with so much difficulty, that governments are often led into great errors, both in calculating the numbers, and furnishing the needful supplies for their armies. When a government either meditates a war against an enemy, or expects to be invaded by an enemy, it becomes its chief duty to ascertain the number of its disposeable hands, or surplus stock of population, in the first instance, and next, the defensive force of the country, or the population which can be trained and exercised without any detriment to the public industry, in the pursuits of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures. Now, to accomplish these objects, it is proper hat the government should be put in possession of the actual state of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, if possible, before the nation is embarked in a war; and, during a war like the present, in which fresh levies of men are continually required, it is not less expedient, that the government should obtain regular information, at stated periods in every year, concerning the state of these three branches of the national resources, together with the population they employ, that it may be qualified to provide for the sustenance of its armies, without oppressing the rest of the community, and to make a due estimate of the surplus population which it can spare, to fill the vacant ranks of its armies, from time to time. As these important points do not seem to have been much attended to, and as it is a matter of vast consequence to call forth the energies and active exertions of all classes of the people, I conceive that an half-yearly census of the national industry, or stock, (that is, the state of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures) and a similar census of the male population, from the age of 14 to 60, throughout the United Empire, would completely answer these purposes, and have a tendency, moreover, to simplify the operations of our civil administration. But, as a project without a method may be received as a vague speculation, I shall here exhibit a plan

* See Digges's Brief Discourse what orders were best for repulsing of forraine force if at any time they should invade us. This is a very curious old tract; its author was muster-master general to the army serving in Flanders, under the earl of Leicester; and he composed it for the private use of that nobleman, at the time when the Spanish monarch, then the most powerful sovereign in the world, threatened to invade England with what he prematurely called his invincible armada. Although the circumstances of the present age differ materially from those which existed in the days of queen Elizabeth; although the art of war has undergone, since that æra, numberless improvements; it will be found, upon a strict investigation, that the principles which the author then recommended, are applicable to our present situation,

in detail. I acknowledge that it appears in a crude shape, but if the principles be good and useful, they may be easily modified and digested by men of practical experience, who are versed in the business of official proceedings, and made applicable

to our circumstances.

PLAN FOR ASCERTAINING, AT STATED PERIODS, OUR NATIONAL RESOURCES AND POPULATION.

The whole of the documents and correspondence upon these subjects will belong to the office of the secretary of state for the home department The correspondence will be carried on between this minister and the lords lieutenants of counties officially; and as the nature of the business will not require any increase of the number of the salaried clerks of the home department, and as the lords lieutenants of counties will be assisted by the deputy lieutenants, who should compose his council, attended also by the clerks of the general meetings of the deputy lieutenancy, no expense will be incurred by this arrangement.

fresh

It is understood, that the whole business of these comitial boards, originate in, and is dependent upon, the instructions received from the secretary of the home department, who, in a circular note, will communicate to the respective lieutenants of the counties, the questions which are to be answered; and when every parish has made its return, the whole result should be transmitted to the government, in an official report; the court of lieutenancy keeping the originals, or copies, of the returns transmitted.

The questions to be proposed will be peculiarly directed to the state of the male population of the counties in relation to agriculture, commerce, and manufactures. Hence the first question would relate to agriculture, and the hands employed upon it, thus,

State the number of acres in cultivation-distinguishing the arable and meadow.The males employed upon them, from fourteen to sixty years of age, distinguishing their ages, and the married men, with the number of their children under fourteen years of age, also quakers and decrepid males, clergymen, and medical men, as exactly as possible, the number of acres in common, or laying waste, and the number and ages of paupers male and female.

that

The objects of this first statement is to ascertain the quantum of food upon hand, or in expectation, so as to regulate the conduct of the government, relative to importations; a subject now become of the first importance, in consequence of the prohibition of our commerce from the ports of the continent-to form an estimate from time to time, according to this parochial return, of the surplus of population which may be carried into the ranks of our disposeable army, to replenish the vacancies may have arisen between the periods of each census-to mark out the number of persons who must be exempted from military service; to determine what lands are improvable, and capable of being settled and cultivated by persons who have performed certain military services, and whom I shall hereafter propose to reward with such bounties-to distinguish between the classes that are to be rendered liable to service, at stated periods, both at home and abroad---and, lastly, to know what families may be thrown upon the state by the absence of their fathers.

When the circular instructions of the secretary of state shall have been received by the lord lieutenant, he will immediately call together a meeting of the deputy lieutenant's, and at that meeting, a printed sheet, with columns conformably to the minister's circular, will be sent to every parish of the county, addressed to the clergymen, churchwardens, and overseers of each parish, desiring them, within ten days from the receipt of the paper, to make their declaration in answer to the required information, which being duly signed by the parson, and, at least, two of the overseers, should be returned to the clerk of the deputy lieutenancy. After the allotted time for the returns of the different parishes shall have expired, the lord lieutenant and his council will meet again, when they will make a general report of the state of the county, according to the precept contained in the circular of the secretary of state. This will be easily done, by bringing the sums of each parochial return into one general or county estimate. This general report, together with the copies of the parochial returns, will be transmitted to the home department; and the business of the meeting will have been discharged, with very little expense and trouble. No excursions are to be made in the report; but it should be strictly confined to facts, and