swarms of people employed to check the expenditure, all that needs to be said is, that these checking-men are, in all probability, appointed by, and removeable, at the pleasure of, those very persons, whose accounts they are appointed to check.After a description like this, one can hardly believe one's senses, when one sees a people, formerly renowned for their spirit, quietly, and even silently, submit to such a government, having, apparently, in the present practice of it, no one good, and so many evils. But, the greatest evil of all still is, in my opinion, the power, exercised by Napoleon, or by some other part of the government (it is no matter which,) of sending men to prison, and keeping them there for an indefinite term, without any trial, as is, in the article above quoted from the Morning Chronicle, explicitly declared to be the practice now in the dominions of Napoleon; and as will be, doubtless, the practice in all the countries, of which he may become master. thought; from a want of taking time to reflect; from a want of the habit of acting upon reflection, a part of the people do really seem to consider them as their representatives; and the vile prints, such as the Moniteur, &c. obviously in the pay of the government, have the profligacy openly to speak of them as a body, who have power freely to deliberate, and whose decisions are not dictated by the Ministers of the Emperor, when it must be well known to every one of the Editors of the said prints, that those ministers have always a majority, and that the voting on opposite sides is a mere contrivance for the purpose of deceiving the nation. -The conduct of the Corps Legislatif is by no means wonderful; because, we see that the whole Corps, and that each individual member of it, have a clear interest in what they do. But, one cannot help being astonished at the conduct of the people; or, at least, at the conduct of that part of them, who seem to wish to uphold the imposture. These are, indeed, but few in number, when -Need I, therefore, call upon Englishcompared to the whole nation; but, it is men to defend their country against him? deeply disgraceful, that these few should" Last shilling!" Aye, the last quid of be found. Is it not perfectly shocking, for instance, to hear people speaking of the ANNUAL EXPOSE, (read, I believe, to the Corps at the opening of its sittings,) as of a document, containing important truths; when it must be manifest to the nation and to all Europe, that it is a string of equivocations and falshoods, put together for the express purpose of bewildering common sense, and of confusing and confounding facts and circumstances: involutionary times. But, if the people had short, a thing contrived for purposes of fraud, and of tyranny through the means of fraud. Then, as to all the Reports of the Ministre des Finances, as they call one of their head Public Robbers, they are just so many pieces of paper, lines of words, and rows of figures, made for the express, and the almost notorious, purof blinding the people. They are, I verily believe, no more accounts of money actually received and issued, than they are accounts of what is passing in the moon. That part which is given to multitudes of spies and informers and that is divided amongst the several persons in power, and their mistresses, wires, children, and relations, is put down, I have no doubt, to the account of the Army or the Marine, or to some other score of public expenditure, which the poor cajoled people are made to regard as being necessary to their safety. And, as to there being pose, tobacco; the last pinch of snuff; the last dish-clout as well as the "last shirt," one ought to sacrifice, rather than submit, or run the risk of submitting to such a villainous despotism. Napoleon contrives, I dare say, to persuade the wretched slaves, who submit to his sway, that such submission is necessary, in order to their security against his external enemies, or against the return of anarchy and of re common sense and common spirit, would they not ask him how it was possible for any change to make their lot worse? Would they not ask him to point out that species of sway which was more odiously unjust than that which exposed them, and each of them, to the chance of being, at any time, put into prison, by his arbitrary will, and kept there for a term indefinite, because, if brought to trial, they could not be condemned by his Courts? In answer to all his cries of Wolf! wolf! in answer to all the sham alarms of his priests about anarchy and blood-shed, would not the people, if they had common sense and common spirit, ask him whether it would not be better to be killed, to be hacked to pieces, in an endeavour to recover their liberties, than to drawl out life for a few years longer under such a load of misery and of infamy? Q 2 "and one Major General, seven Generals 66 66 OUR STAFF. We are a great nation in all things, but, in nothing I think so great as in our military staff. -The stock of Generals that we have is truly astonishing. We have, I believe, upwards of a hundred and ten of them, natives, not to mention those who have kindly come from abroad to our assistance. And yet Buonaparté pretends, that we are not a military nation! Why, we have, I verily believe, more Generals, of one sort and the other than he has, with all his boasting; and, what is more, our generals can all write too. Heavens! how they write! The account of the wars in Guadaloupe alone filled, in close print, more than a whole daily news-paper of twenty columns. We had, it appears no less than ten generals, engaged in those wars, though sent reduction,) was on a lower scale in the whole number of the enemy appears "proportion to the troops in the country, to have been but about fifteen or sixteen hun- "than even in 1806.-In 1806 there was dred men, and how many of these were one General Officer to 1,971 men; in Frenchmen, or even white-men, is not, as I "February, 1810, there was one General can see, any where stated by any one of "Officer to 1,990 men. From the 64 our generals, in any part of the said twenty "Generals on the Staff in February, 1810, columns of writing. Ten generals to make "if the six now proposed to be discontiwar upon less than two thousand men, "nued were deducted, there would reBlacks and Whites!After this speci- "main 58, or one General Officer to 2,190 men of our abundant supply of generals," men; a proportion which, under all the the public need not be very much surpri-" circumstances of the country, could not ded at the amount of the expences of the "be considered too great. "He concluded Staff, as it is called.- -On the 23d instant "by moving a resolution, That a sum not a very pretty, and very valuable discussion" exceeding 457,724 1. be granted to his took place in the Honourable House upon majesty, for General and Staff Offithe subject of this our glorious Staff, of cers, &c.". -Fifty eight Generais to which Lord Palmerstone, who is, I be- command in this island! Fifty eight Ge lieve, a Secretary of War, gave, as the nerals! But, Mr. CALCRAFT said somereport says, the following account.- thing very well worthy of notice. "He "Lord Palmerstone adverted to the re- "declared," says the report in the Morn"turns on the table, of the Staff in the se-ing Chronicle, "that the proposed reducveral districts, and stated the reduction "of the General Officers on the Staff to be "as follows: In the Eastern district it was 'proposed to discontinue one Lieutenant "General, leaving eight Generals com manding twenty thousand men. In the "South-west district it was proposed to "discontinue one Lieutenant General and "appoint a Major General in his room, "one General would there command 4,000 men. In the Severn district it was proposed to discontinue one Lieutenant General-(Hear! hear! hear!) "and the command would consequently "devolve on a Major General. In the "Home district it was proposed to dis" continue one Major General, there would ❝ remain five Generals to command 10,000 "men. In North Britain it was proposed "to discontinue one Lieutenant-General, "tion was a MERE MOCKERY. The "most extravagant districts had scarcely "suffered any reduction at all. On a comparison of two of the estimates, it appeared to him that the noble lord had "mis-stated the saving, which seemed to him to be only 7,7721. instead of 17,000l. "The gentlemen opposite found those in "the Staff, whom it was beyond their strength "to remove; and it was well known that if a "favourite officer took a house in any part of "the country, the Staff was made to travel to « him.". -Oh! this is well-known, is it? And a very nice thing it is. This is a thing for the people to know, and to bear well in mind. This is a thing to treasure up in the public mind.-Well, what said Mr. PERCEVAL?" The CHANCELLOR of the "EXCHEQUER put it frankly to the right "hon. gentleman whether he could visit "upon the present administration any just "that we shall not be able to prolong our "charge of adding to the staff expendi-" contest with the emperor of the French. "ture: they had presented to the house a "After this, Sir, what will the people say "reduced estimate upon a reduced staff;" to the sort of saving now proposed by "but upon even that estimate the right "his Majesty's ministers ? Why, Sir, "hon. gentleman was inclined to make "they will say, it is adding insult to op"greater reductions; why had not those pression. A saving of thirteen thousand "reductions been proposed when the right" pounds, out of a profligate expenditure "hon. gentleman himself was in office? Why "of above half a million. Why, Sir, this "had they not then occurred to him? they saving, as it is called, is little more than "were surely to the full as necessary "a saving of half the wanton excess of the "then as now; and how was it to be ac- "last year; for, from the Disposition of "counted for, that they then had escaped" Grants' for 1808, I find the Staff expen"the sagacity of that right hon. gentle-"diture to have been £.433,404, when "man? The right hon. gentleman put" the amount of this reduced estimate, as it to the committee, whether as a matter" it is termed, for 1810 is £.457,724, ex"of convenience to his majesty, any gentle-" ceeding that of 1808 by £.24,000. But, "man would wish to reduce the revenue "Sir, this is not all, for the printed esti"of those generals who were in the habit "mate I hold in my hand, does not conof accompanying him in any military review "tain three considerable branches of the "in the home district. Lord Heathfield was "General Staff. I mean the Recruiting "Goldstick to his Majesty, which claimed "Staff, the Volunteer Staff, and the Ordconsideration; and surely if it were ad- "nance Staff, amounting together to no less "mitted to employ one of the king's sons in a sun than £. 83,474. Why the noble "military capacity, it was not improper "Lord kept this small item out of sight I "so to employ him in the home district.”. "know not; but this I know, that small There needs not any comment upon this. as it may now be thought, it is within -What MR. WARDLE said, in this de- "fifteen hundred pounds of the total staff bate, was very important, and, therefore," expenditure of the country a very few I insert it at full length. I beg the reader years ago; when, as the hon. gentleman to go over it with care. It will give him "(Mr. Haskisson) has informed us, the a clear insight into one of the sinks," whole population of the country was in arms. through which the enormous amount of "At that period the total Annual Staff the taxes disappear. There are so many Expenditure was £.85,000; and can things of this sort, that the public become any thing like a reason be given why it weary of thinking and talking about them; ought to be more now? I am sure there but, let it be recollected, that these are the "cannot; therefore, if justice was done things, which swallow up the taxes.- "to the people, above £.400,000 would "From the manner, Sir, in which this "be saved instead of 13,000 !! Had his "debate has commenced, I think it neces- "Majesty's ministers intended well by " sary, before I enter upon the question "their country, a better occasion for "under discussion, to offer one prelimi- " evincing such a disposition could not 66 nary observation, and that is, that I do "have offered itself; but they have missed "not feel that his Majesty's present minis-"the golden opportunity, and given one "ters are more deeply implicated in the "other convincing proof, that no check "present question than their immediate "whatever will be given to the profligacy "predecessors, under whose administra-" of expenditure till the people are fairly "tion the same profligate expenditure" represented.When, Sir, the Barrack abundantly flourished. I oppose not "System was first introduced, it was "men but measures; and I rise now, Sir, "ushered in with the assurance that no to attack a vicious, vile, and corrupt heavy staff expenditure would then be system. The jacobinical doctrine I necessary; and that it would afford a "held last session, has, to my astonish- "provision for the officers on the half-pay, "ment, become the favourite topic with "and thereby lessen the burthens of the peogentlemen on the other side the House," ple. Now what has happened-Why, particularly with one honourable gen- "Sir, near thirteen millions of money has "tleman, who, having had the best means "been voted by this House, out of the "of informing himself upon the subject," pockets of the people, under the head "has told us, that, unless our expenditure "of Barracks, and this House has also "is reduced twenty millions annually," voted, that the annual staff expenditure " should be INCREASED from £.85,000 to "have to make, is on the Staff of the "half a million; and, instead of officers on "Artillery and Engineers; it appears the half-pay filling the situations in the "that one General, one Lieutenant GeneBarrack Department, you will there ral, and three Major Generals, are upon "find the favourite servants and de- "our Home Staff without having a single "pendants of those in power.Feeling "man under their command, and their joint "these things, Sir, as a man anxious for pay is £. 12,449 a year. Now it will "the welfare of his country ought to feel "be argued, I am aware, that it does not << them, I shall ever oppose myself to such "follow, as a matter of course, that Gene"corrupt practices; but fully aware that "rals of Artillery or Engineers, should "no exertions of mine can, under existing "have any men under their command, "circumstances, be attended with exten- "that they have other and peculiar duties "sive success, I shall not waste either the "to perform; this I admit, provided we had "time of the Committee, or my own "an army in the field; but, as that is not "breath, in a fruitless effort, but content "the case, I do argue that we are now "myself with calling the attention of his " voting £. 12,449 without services being Majesty's Ministers to a few features of" performed that would authorize such a "peculiar profligacy in the estimate be"fore us. -That part of the Jacobinical "Creed that there is a necessity that the "utmost œconomy (consistent with efficiency) should be practised,' being "adopted by the honourable gentlemen "opposite, I beg to ask them, and the "Committee, whether the voting £.1,368 "15s. per annum to the Quarter Master "General, as a Lieutenant General on the "vote. -Next, Sir, as to the Volunteer "Staff which costs the country near "thirty thousand a year! That of Eng. "land being £. 14,000; that of Ireland "£. 15,990; though the Volunteers are, "in a great measure, converted into Local "Militia Men, still are we called upon to "vote this enormous item of the Staff Expenditure. It is something remarkable, 66 too, that the Irish Volunteer Staff should "exceed that of England in point of ex pence, for the number of Volunteers in "England greatly exceeds, I presume, "those in Ireland.-The next and last "item that I shall trouble the Committee upon, is the "Recruiting Staff," the ex 66 pence of which amounts to £.41,035, "and this certainly does demand peculiar "attention. The first observation I beg "to make upon it, is this, that, on com"paring this expenditure with the num"ber of recruits raised, (averaged in each year at eleven thousand), it appears "that, by this new establishment, (one merely of patronage,) the people are Staff, can be justified. As a Quarter "Master General we vote him £.4 5s. per day, which is £1,551 a year, be"sides his contingent allowances; he also has a two Battalion Regiment, which is "worth at least 1,600 a year. It will "not be pretended that he performs any duty whatever as Lieutenant General on the Staff; for his having a Deputy Quarter "Master General speaks to his being un"able of himself even to fulfil the duties "of Quarter Master General. Therefore, "Sir, it becomes a mere question of money, "whether the Quarter Master General, "possessed of an income from his regi"ment of at least £.1,600 a year, has any "fair claim upon the people's purse (after "receiving £. 1,551 a year as Quarter "Master General) for a further sum of "£.1,308 5s. merely because he is "written down Lieutenant General on the "Staff. This question applies to the Adjutant General, and to his deputy, as "well as to the deputy of the Quarter "Master General, for we find that all "these officers have regiments, although "they are fastened upon us for Sinecures "under the head of Generals on the Staff. If, Sir, the pay attached to the different "situations is not sufficient, let it be in- assigned, why we even should load our "creased; but let us not, under the head "constituents with an expenditure of "of Army Estimates, vote Pensions and "£. 10,000. These things, Sir, speak Sinecures. The next observation I" for themselves, and I shall trespass on put to an additional expence of near "four pounds for every recruit raised, and "this besides the bounty, and all the ex66 pences attendant upon recruiting parties. "This establishment is one of only a few years standing, and when it was first "set on foot, the strongest assurance was given, that the expence should not ex"ceed £. 10,000 a year. Now it is some"what remarkable, that, in the very last "" year, it has increased nearly in that ratio, for, in the year 1809, it was £. 32,425; "and now we are called upon to vote "£.41.035, without one reason being tant apprehension of an invasion of th ́s maxim, should rouse in him a jealousy not yielding in its fervour to that which nature has implanted in civilized man, when he suspects an attempt on the chastity of the woman he adores; only to be allayed with the knowledge that her honour is unsullied. I should hope, Sir, that when we apprehend an inroad to be made on our Constitutional Rights, a cool and dispassionate Argument of the grounds and cause of our suspicion, would be considered inoffensive to both Houses of Legislature. Indeed, to imagine that the House of Commons, the Representatives of the People, delegated to guard their Rights and sustain their Liberties, should be displeased with such a temperate discussion, seems to argue a distempered mind. I shall, without farther preface therefore, proceed to discuss the Privilege insisted upon by the House of Commons, of inflicting Punishment, without their Sen the Committee only one moment longer. "And to what I am about to say, I beg "the attention of the noble lord (the Secretary at War.) I have it from good authority, that the Staff, and Contingent "Allowances, are generally three years in "arrear, a circumstance extremely incon"venient to many gallant, and honourable "men, who have probably no other fund "to resort to. The noble lord I see in his place, (Lord G. L. Gower), when Se"cretary at War, in December 1808, "settied the Staff and Contingent Allow"ances for the years 1805 and 1806. When "I say that there has been no payment "since that period, the noble lord oppo"site, will not, I believe, contradict me. -The regulations of 1804, direct that "these accounts should be made up half "yearly. There is no excuse for those regulations being disregarded, no diffi"culty of account can be pleaded, and if "the noble lord will look himself into the "business, and not trust to the representence being the Subject of Revision by "tations of his deputy, or the chairman "of his new board, I feel confident that "this heavy cause of complaint will be at "once done away."After reading this Speech, who can be astonished at the visits of the tax-gatherer? Nearly a million of money paid annually to persons upon the Staff! My real opinion is, that there is not, and never was, any military establishmen in Europe, not excepting that of France, of which the Staff cost half so much money. WM. COBBETT. Botley, 29th March, 1810. * The real Staff Expenditure stands thus: £.260,304 41,035 Estimate 1810 - any other Tribunal. The basis and keystone of the Laws and Constitution of this country, is Magua Charta; of which Blackstone says, 66 what would alone have "merited the title it bears of the Great "Charter, it proteeted every individual of "the nation in the free enjoyment of his "Life, his Liberty, and his Property, un"less declared to be forfeited by the Judg "ment of his Peers, or the Law of the "Land."-Now, Sir, the House of Commons, in exercising the power of commit ting and detaining in custody a British subject, for an offence alledged to have been committed against them, and that without appeal, insist that such power lies within the compass of their Privileges, which having existed, as it is said, from time immemorial, are part of the Laws of the Land. Privileges have their force as law from imprescriptible usage; and though these Privileges are not defined to the public, they must be so, I should apprehend, to the honourable House who 531,643 exercise them; because, if undefined 362,413 there, it would be equivalent to the creating of Privileges whenever, in the discretion of the House, it should be thought necessary; and if those Privileges are not to be enquired into by any other power, it would be equivalent to one branch of the Legislature making Laws, or rescinding those already made, which cannot, for one moment, be assumed, as that can only be effected by the joint act of all three Estates, viz. King, Lords and Commons. It 29,990 12,449 169,230 £.894,056 LIBERTY OF THE SUBJECT. Sir-The Liberty of the Subject is with an Englishman the theme of his general conversation-it is his second Pater-noster his pride-his boast; and the most dis |