cient degree of ingenuity had been fhewn in the manner of making the extracts from the report; and it would prove extraordinary indeed, if, wherever the judgment was unfavourable, it fhould have been fo blinded and complicated with matter of detail and dangerous difcuffion, that no chemical procefs in the ordnance laboratory could poffibly separate them; while, on the contrary, every approving opinion, like a fubtile oily fluid, floated at the top at once, and the clamfieft clerk was capable of prefenting it to the house pure and untinged by a fingle particle of the reafon or information which produced it.

Secondly, he contended that the opinion of the land officers was founded upon hypothetical and conditional fuggeftions, and upon fuch data as the mafter general had propofed to them; the truth or probability of which fuggeftions and data the board invariably and unanimoufly refufed to authorife or make themselves refponfible for. This circumstance, he faid, deferved particular attention, fince the report had been fo artfully framed and managed as to warrant a contrary affertion, namely, that the board had acceded to the truth or probability of the data themfelves. In fpeaking of these data, Mr. Sheridan used much wit and ingenious raillery, at the expence of the mafter general. He faid that his grace deserved the warmest panegyrics for the ftriking proofs which he had given of his genius as an engineer, which appeared even in the planning and conftructing of the report in queftion; the profeffional ability of the matter general hone confpicuously there,

as it would upon our coafts; he had made an argument of pofts, and conducted his reasoning upon principles of trigonometry as well as logic. There were certain detached data like advanced works to keep the enemy at a distance from the main object in debate; strong provifions covered the flanks of his affertions; his very queries were in cafemates; no impreffion therefore was to be made on this fortrefs of fophiftry by defultory obfervations, and it was neceffary to fit down before it, and affail it by regular approaches. It was fortunate however, he faid, to obferve, that notwithstanding all the skill employed by the noble and literary engineer, his mode of defence on paper was open to the fame objection which had been urged against his other fortifications, that, if his adverfary got poffeffion of one of his pofts, it became ftrength against him, and the means of fubduing the whole line of his argument.

Laftly, he argued, that the data themselves were founded upon a fuppofition of events fo defperate and improbable, as would, were they to take effect, not only produce imminent danger to Portfmouth and Plymouth, but equally fo to every other part of the country, and in fact the actual conqueft of the island.-Under the circumftances of the data, it was neceffary to fuppofe literally as follows:-" The "abfence of the whole British fleet

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lery, and every neceffary for a fiege, while no force in Great "Britain could be collected in "less than two months to op"pose them."

Admitting firft as a fact, what was not at all certain, namely, that the enemy fhould decide to attack Portfmouth and Plymouth, inftead of friking at the heart of the empire, yet it did not then follow, he faid, that thefe only objects were effectually fecured and provided for; fince, in the first place, it had not yet been made out that the enemy might not either land or march to the eaftward of Plymouth, where no defence was yet intended to be conftructed; and, fecondly, as the whole queftion turned upon the fuppofition of our being inferior at fea, we muft either, upon the return of our inferior fleet, truft to its beating the fuperior fleet of the enemy, or the confequence must be fatal to the befieged dock. yards for it was exprefsly flated in the report, that the defence of Portsmouth and Plymouth was calculated only against the force, and for the time ftated in the data. But by fuppofition, the enemy was to have the fuperior fleet; and fhould the inferior fleet either be absent or be beat, they would then, being mafters of the fea, obviously have it in their power to recruit their own army, to continue the fiege, and to keep the other expofed parts of the kingdom in fuch check and alarm, as thereby to prevent the poffibility of our affembling a force fufficient to raise it. From hence it would follow of courfe, that whenever the army of the enemy fhould by these means either exceed the number fuppofed, or that the

time fhould be prolonged beyond the period calculated in the data, the whole of this effectual fecurity would vanish under the very reasons given for its fupport, and we should have prepared a strong hold in our own country for the enemy, which, from the very circumftances under which he was fuppofed to have taken it, he would be enabled for ever to maintain.

After a long difcuffion of the fub... ject, the house divided on the original motion, as moved by Mr. Pitt: Ayes, 169; Noes, 169. The numbers being thus equal, the fpeaker, as is ufual upon fuch occafions, was called upon to give his cafting vote, which he gave against the original motion.

March 20th.

An alteration introduced into the mutiny bill, for the purpose of fubjecting officers who held commiffions by brevet to military law, was ftrongly oppofed in both houfes of parlia ment. It appears that the earlieft mutiny bills included every officer "mustered or in pay as an officer, or on half-pay." The inclusion of the laft defcription of officers occafioned in thofe times fome jealousy and uneafinefs without doors, as an unneceffary extenfion of the mili. tary law, and was the fubject of frequent debates in both houfes of parliament; and in the year 1748 that part of the claufe was omitted, and has been left out of the mutiny bill ever fince. In the prefent bill, instead of the word "mustered " the word "commiffioned was inferted, by which alteration all thofe officers who had commiffions by brevet, although out of the service, were made fubject to the regulations of the act.

The general ground on which

this alteration was fupported, was, that though fuch officers received no pay from the crown, yet as they might poffibly be invested with command, it was neceffary they should be made fubject to be tried by courts martial, in cafe of mifbehaviour while in command; and that there were also many other military officers who were not mustered, fuch as governors, lieutenant-governors, &c. who might eventually exercife command; and that it was highly reasonable that they should, on that account, become amenable to military law; and lastly, two particular inftances, which had lately occurred, were alledged as proofs of the expediency of the meafure propofed-col. Stuart, a major-general by brevet in the East Indies, had in that quality taken upon him the command of the army in the fettlement in which he was upon fervice, and had nevertheless not been deemed liable to be tried by a court-martial, had any part of his conduct required that he should be tried. The fecond inftance was that of gen. Rofs, in which, upon a reference to the judges, they were unanimously of opinion, that officers holding commiffions by brevet were not liable to be tried by a court-martial.

In reply to these obfervations, it was urged, that the whole fyftem of martial law, as it infringed upon the natural and conftitutional rights of the subject, was only defenfible upon the ftrict ground of neceffity, and ought therefore, in times of peace more especially, to be narrowed if poffible, instead of being extended. That the general principle, as recognized both in the theory and practice of our conftitution, was, that military law fhould

be confined to actual military fervice alone. That in ancient times when every man bore arms, and was liable to be called forth, military law was exercised upon every man while he was in actual fervice, but no longer. Thus thofe princes who had little power in their dominions, in refpect to civil government, enjoyed and exercifed almost an unlimited authority when at the head of their fubjects, collected and embodied as an army, which again always ceafed with the occafion that made it neceffary. That in our times, the militia were under military law when embodied as a militia, but were freed from it after they returned into the mafs of the people, and the character of the foldier was funk in that of the citizen. the officers on half-pay, though at first included in the mutiny act, had been exempted from its operation by the deliberate voice of both houses of parliament: circumftances which clearly proved, that the prevalent idea in all ages had been to confine military law to actual military fervice.

That

It was further urged, that there was a peculiar hardship and injuftice in fubje&ting men in civil life, and who derived no emolument from the rank which they held in the army, to be tried by courtsmartial, not only for offences at this time known and defined in the articles of war to be military offences, but for offences as yet unknown, which his majesty had the power hereafter to create. That the act exprefsly ordered that the artiles of war fhould be read twice in every month at the head of every regiment in the army; that this meafure was doubtlefs thought neceffary, for the purpofe of making

them

them familiarly known to all who were liable to be affected by them, and was therefore a clear proof that the mutiny act, under which the king derives his authority to make fuch articles of war as he pleafed, was never defigned to be extended to brevet officers, or officers on half pay and that at least, if the innovation propofed fhould be perfifted in, thofe gentlemen fhould be apprized of their being about to be made fubject to trial by court-martial for a variety of offences, which at prefent, in their civil fituation, were not offences.

In addition to these arguments, it was alfo remarked, that the preamble to the mutiny act confined the ftanding army to a limited number of men, to be paid by the public; and that the proposed alteration would falfify the preamble, by enabling the executive government to exercife military authority over an additional body of men not in the pay of the public. In fine, both houfes were called upon not to fuffer that jealousy to be laid afleep, with which parliament, ever fince a ftanding army in peace was firft fuffered to exift, had always regarded it and to take care left, under pretence of providing against fanciful inconveniences, they did not connive at a ferious attack upon the most important principles of the conftitution.

In the house of lords, the bill was oppofed in two fubfequent debates, with great eloquence and ability, by the earl of Carlisle, lord Stormont, and lord Loughborough; the first of whom propofed, in order to obviate the difficulty of a brevet officer's fucceeding to command without being amenable to military law, that a claufe fhould

be added, enacting, that brevet officers fhould not take command but by virtue of a letter of fervice, or fome special commiffion from his majefty. This propofal not being accepted, lord Stormont moved, that inftead of the word "commiffioned" these words fhould be inferted, "mustered, or called by proper authority into fervice;" this amendment, he conceived, would do away the objections entertained against the propofed innovation, and would furely comprehend all that the executive government could poffibly defire.

The claufe, as originally framed, was defended by the lord chancellor, chiefly on the ground that all the king's forces, however conftituted, ought to be fubject to the fame laws; that the diftinction between an officer by brevet out of fervice, and an officer in actual fervice, was an unfair diftinction with refpect to the latter. If gentlemen chofe to have the advantage of military rank, they ought to hold it on the condition of being subject to military law; and if they difliked that condition, they might eafe themselves of the grievance by refigning their commiffions.

This argument introduced another topic of difcuffion. It was afked, whether an officer might not, in actual fervice, give up his commif fion whenever he pleafed? It was anfwered by lord Loughborough, that fuch a refignation was fubject to his majesty's acceptance; and in this opinion the lord chancellor concurred, but added, no minifter, under the circumftances defcribed, could advife his majefty not to accept fuch a refignation. On the diviñon there appeared for the original claufe 42, against it 20.

CHAP.