MILITIA BILL, ETC.
A bill for rendering the militia as effective as possible was passed on the 20th of May; but in consequence of a message from his majesty on the 18th of June, recommending more extensive measures, a proposition was carried for embodying a new species of Militia, to be denominated “the army of reserve.” This body was to consist of 50,000 men for England, and 10,000 for Ireland, and they were to be raised by ballot, but allowed to volunteer into the regular army. This bill, however, was only the precursor of one of greater magnitude—a bill which comprehended the arming and training of the whole effective male population, and which passed into a law on the 27th of July. This measure was proposed in case of an invasion; and as the opposite coasts of France and Belgium were lined with troops, and the French and Brussels papers were calculating how many days it would take Napoleon to reach London, it met with very general support. Fox himself offered his hearty concurrence to it, because it was for the defence of the country, rather than for any project of offensive war. It passed in the commons nem. con.; and the lords adopted it unanimously, one or two peers only censuring ministers, as Pitt had done in, the lower house, for not producing it sooner. This scheme, however, was not generally acceptable to the nation at large, nor was the danger so great as to justify its adoption. Nevertheless a large body of volunteers started up in every part of the realm, and a force of 400,000 men wore soon collected on the coasts to defend their beloved country. The whole population of England, under the impression that their altars and firesides were endangered by the menace of the first consul of France, rose
“Like one man, to combat in the sight Of a just God, for liberty and right.”