would not expose myself to a charge of misrepresentation upon a subject which I am well known to have so much at heart; and also, because I am quite satisfied, that the time is not distant, when it will be deemed of importance to be able to refer to the very words, if possible, which any man shall have uttered relating to the employment of these Troops. Lord Folkestone did not, upon this occasion, enter much upon the subject of em ploying Foreign Troops generally, but complained, FIRST, of foreigners being put as Officers in English regiments; SECOND, of their being employed as officers on the staff in this country; and, THIRD, of their being enlisted as soldiers in English regiments, even in preference to natives. I shall notice each of these points in due order. As to the first, the appointing of Germans to be officers in English regiments, his Lordship complained of it as a gross insult to Englishmen, and also as a violation of law. He wished to get at the number of Officers thus appointed; he wished to have a return, in which the people of England might see to what extent the native soldiers were put under the command of these Germans. He mentioned one particular and very striking instance, namely, the appointment of a Mr. QUENTIN to be a Lieutenant Colonel of the Prince of Wales's own regiment, the 10th Light Dragoons. This was, indeed, well worthy of attention; for, this man is, in fact, the head Commander of that regiment, because, as every one must well know, the Prince himself is never present with the regiment, and, of course, cannot command it. In answer to this particular subject of complaint, COLONEL PALMER, who is the other Lieut. Colonel of the Prince's regiment (for there are two), is reported to have passed a high eulogium upon his colleague, stating him to be a meritorious officer, and that he had introduced great improvements in the art of riding. To this Sir FRANCIS BURDETT replied, that he supposed, that these talents of riding master might have been obtained from this German without giving him the command of Englishmen. And, in deed, who can believe otherwise? The value of tricks and capers and showy movements in horsemanship is very questionable; but, if there be any value in them, does the reader believe, that they might not be obtained at Astley's in as great perfection as from this QUENTIN? Quentin is, too, let it be observed, senior in command to Colonel Palmer. He is Colonel Palmer's superior officer. He can order him to do what he pleases. He is, in short, his immediate commander ; and, when we add to this consideration, the fact, that it must have been the Prince who chose Quentin, we shall not be likely to, form an erroneous judgment upon the whole, or any part, of this case. To be. sure, one cannot help admiring the subordination, the truly military subordination, evinced in the conduct of Colonel Palmer, who not only serves under this German, but who really seems to have sought an opportunity of proclaiming the fact to the country, and of paying his court to the German and his patrons by eulogizing the qualities of the former, and, of course, by justifying the choice of the latter. The Prince's regiment wear Whiskers, and have, in all respects, I believe, a German dress. I wonder whether Colonel Palmer himself wears whiskers? To be sure he is the best judge of his own capacity; but, I should have thought him full as fit to command a regiment of horse as the German. At any rate, if Colonel Palmer be conscious of his own inferiority to this German, it does not follow that no other Englishman was to be found of superior pretensions. We have a half pay list, which costs us about 200,0001. a year, which at 3s. a day for each officer, which is about the average of the half pay, makes the number of half pay officers amount to nearly 4,000! And, in a list like this (a little army, really!) is it to be believed, that men as good as this German were not to be found? There are bundreds and hundreds of English officers, of all ranks, begging to be put upon service. This is notorious; and, while this is the case, we see these men receiving half pay. for doing nothing, and Germans brought in to fill the posts which our own officers are so desirous of filling. There is an objection to the employment of these people in this way, which I shall mention byand-by, as it applies equally to the three heads of complaint. The SECOND head of complaint, namely, the employing of Germans on the Staff in this country, brought forth some interesting matter. Lord Folkestone stated, that, in several instances, Gorman Officers had been employed on the Staff in England. He mentioned BARON ROTTENBURGH and his AID DE CAMP, who had commands on the Staff in England, Lieut. General......Lord Chatham. Lieut. General......Baron Linsingen. Lieut. General......H. T. Maitland. Major General......Williams. Major General......W. Roberts. Major General......Hon. W. Stewart. Major General...... Montgomerie. Major General......Acland. Major General......Hawker. Here, then, we see the German Baron second in command of a whole district of England, consisting of five Counties, and having no less than seven English Generals under him. But, Lord Palmerston says the Baron has only the superintendence of a depot. No, my lord? How comes it, then, that he has an aide de camp? He has one, and that one is a Captain Linsins gen too, and, of course, they are both paid as upon the staff, besides their regimental pay. If Lord Chatham is, at any time; absent, does not Linsingen take the com. mand? To be sure he does, else why is he placed second in command in the Eastern District. This is the way in which his name has been published to the people of Eng. land for the last three or four years. What! Has this Army List no meaning? Or is it a List of falshoods? But, to come to the point, Lord Chatham, I mean John Earl of Chatham (to use the Marlborough phrase), was, as we all well know, absent from his command in the summer of 1809, and, I assert, that BARON LINSINGEN commanded all the troops in the District during that absence; that all reports were made to him; that he reviewed the regiments; and, in short, that he took the place of Lord Chatham, in every respect, as Commander in Chief of that District. This I distinctly assert upon the authority of those who served in the District during the time referred to, who were reviewed by Linsingen, and who saw the Order of Lord Chatham putting the District under the German Baron's command. That re view! Oh, how that review stuck in the stomach of one gentleman that I knew! To be sure, it was a thing to feel; an English gentleman in a Regiment of Militia reviewed, that is to say, examined as to fitness for battle, approved of or disap proved of, by a Hanoverian! This was a thing to feel; but, then, the feeling was not a feeling to be smothered by an English Gentleman. and who were now in Canada. He also mentioned BARON LINSINGEN, who is now in the Eastern District, stationed, I believe, in the town of Ipswich, whence an address was sent to the Regent, thanking him for reappointing the Duke of York. He noticed other instances, and, in his speech in reply, he observed, that one of the German Officers, who bad had a Staff command in Ireland, was the very person, he believed, who negociated with the French General that disgraceful capitulation, by which Hanover was, without a single blow, surrendered to the enemy. This last is a very curious fact. I regret that Lord Folkestone did not name this person; for, in such cases it is impossible to be too particular. We should have had the name of the man, who, after having been the immediate instrument of the surrender of Hanover, had been selected by our government to have the command of a district in this kingdom, and, of course, to have under him several native corps, many native officers, and even some native generals. We should have had the name of this man. If this fact be correct (and Lord Folkestone is not apt to deal in loose reports) it is one that ought to be fully investigated. What! the very man, who was the instrument in surrendering Hanover without a blow; the very man who negociated that convention by which that country and the people were given up to the mercy of the French, and by which the Hanoverian army bargained that the French should make the people pay them for some time after they had laid down their arms; that man, that very man, appointed to command a district in this kingdom! Pray, my lord, let us have the name of this man! -With respect to BARON ROTTENBURGH, nothing was said in answer to Lord Folkestone. Indeed, nothing could be said; for the fact was notorious; and, unless the intention of putting Germans over us was openly avowed, it was impossible to offer any thing in the way of justification. For the employing of. BARON LINSINGEN upon the Staff in the Eastern District, Lord Palmerston, the Secretary at War, made an excuse in this way: he said, that the Baron had only the superintendance of a Depot. How long has this been the case? Lord Folkestone said, that the Baron was now, or had been, one of the Generals on the staff in that District. In the Army The THIRD subject of complaint, that is, List for February 1812, published by au- the enlistment of foreigners in our own regi. thority, the generals on the Staff, com- ments, brought to light this very curious manding in the Eastern District of Eng-fact; that, while many of our regiments land, stand thus: were enlisting Gemans, even out of the pri sons, and especially the Prince of Wales's own Regiment, the 10th Light Dragoons, while this was going on, there was an order existing in this very regiment, NOT TO ENLIST ANY IRISHMEN! He any blame was to be attached to him for "this, he begged, as far as his own opi "nion went of the propriety, to take his "share. That he had not stated, as re"ported, that his objection had been on "account of the Irish deserting to the ene "convinced than himself, in common, he "believed, with every other British officer, "of the loyalty, courage, and fidelity of the Irish. What he did state was, that the description of Irish they met with in this "country were liable to desert, which was a "reason for objecting to them; and to "" prove that his regiment entertained no "national prejudice, they objected, in the "the same manner, to various classes of "their own countrymen; to all Londoners " and confined their recruits to that class "of persons brought up to agricultural "pursuits; for they found that Irishmen, "and those of their own country who were "not in early life accustomed to the care "of horses, made bad grooms; and thought "the best infantry were objectionable, as "cavalry. He therefore trusted, these "reasons would clear his regiment of all "suspicion of the motive which had been "attributed to it; and he would add, that "this system was not confined (as had "been stated) to his own regiment and the "15th, but that it was pursued by every "English cavalry regiment in the service. "He would only add, to prove that he " never objected to Irishmen who were "well recommended, and still less that he "preferred foreigners, that the number of "Irish then in the regiment exceeded that "of all foreigners; and that the amount of "the latter did not exceed 30 out of a W complement of nearly 900. He con"cluded by observing, that it was an un"pleasant subject, and that he should not "have taken a part in the debate of last "night, had he not been called upon to do "justice to a brother Officer, than whom he When you have taken time to swell," my; on the contrary, no one was more reader; when you have collected your self again, hear the story out. Colonel PALMER, who had stood forward as the champion of the appointment of his German colleague, Quentin, was called upon by Mr. Bennet to say, why foreigners "were taken into the 10th regiment in prefe"rence to Irishmen ?" Is," said Mr. Bennet, "such an indignity to be put "upon the Irish people, that they are to "be considered as unfit to serve their "country? This is, really, something be." and inhabitants of manufacturing towns, "yond human patience to bear." Colonel PALMER is said, by the reporters, to have answered in a very low tone of voice. And well he might, finding it necessary, as he appears to have done, to apologize for the regulation complained of. said, that the reason for the regulation was, that the Irish were so much given to desert, and it was so difficult to catch them again. His expressions having been mis-stated in one of the reports in the newspapers, where he was made to say, that great numbers of the Irish déserted to the enemy, he, the next day, in his place made an explanation, of which the following is the fullest report that I have been able to find. I take it from the Morning Chronicle, and I beg leave to solicit the reader's attention to every word of it, as I cannot help looking upon it as relating to a matter, which will not and which cannot remain long without producing something or other in the way of remedy. His words, as reported, were these: "Col. Palmer "stated his anxiety to correct a misrepre"sentation he was sorry to have seen in "the Papers; of what he was reported to "have stated in answer to the assertion, "that an order had been issued to his "Royal Highness the Prince Regent's regiment to exclude the admission of Irish-" its appearance and discipline, which he "men. Being aware that there were some "grounds for such statement, he did not at "the time take on himself to contradict "fully; but that he was now enabled to "state, from the highest authority, that no "order of the kind had ever been issued. He "admitted that the recruiting officers had "received instructions from the Command"ing Officer, Colonel Quentin, to enlist Englishmen in preference to Irish, and if believed there was not a more deserving in "the service, and to whom that credit for "trusted was not unworthily bestowed on "the regiment, was due.". Bless us! What, were you compelled to give all the praise to your German superior! Not allowed to keep a single word for yourself! Here are some curious points in this explanation. It was not an ORDER to the Regiment not to enlist Irishmen; it was only an INSTRUCTION to the recruiting Officers! Only that; but, pray, Colonel Palmer, what is the difference? In what | ing to your explanation, the Irish are a other way could the prohibition have been very faithful people; but are liable to be made? To have told the regiment any guilty of breaches of faith! Very faithful, thing about the matter would have been every British officer will say that, but the nonsense. The effectual way to keep out Prince will not enlist them, because they the Irish was to order or instruct (it is all are apt to break their oaths of fidelity! the same) the recruiting officers not to enlist These Irish must be a curious people.. Irish. To be sure; because, if they en- Oh! but, beg pardon! It was not the listed no Irish, there would be no Irish in Prince, it was not the Colonel of the regithe regiment. This is as clear as day- ment, who gave these instructions to the light. But, then, it was not a plan for recruiting officers to enlist Englishmen in shutting out the Irish altogether: it was preference to Irishmen; it was the senior merely a plan for preferring the English to Lieutenant Colonel QUENTIN, the identi the Irish. Now what does this mean? Does cal German, whom we have been before it mean, that when there were two men speaking of; he it was who gave these injust alike in all other respects, presented structions about the Irish; he it was who themselves, the one an Englishman and found them liable to desert; he it was who the other an Irishman, the former was to fixed this mark upon a third part of the be preferred? Colonel Palmer must know, population of this kingdom. Yes, but you that no such case can ever have been con- are ready to participate with him in any templated; and, in fact, that the instruc-blame that may be attached to the act. tions permitted the officers to enlist Englishmen but not Irishmen; which brings the real state of the case to just what it was before. Well, but, one of the reasons now is, that the Irish, who come to this country, are bad grooms, not having been brought up in agricultural pursuits. What! why the Irish who come to England have almost all of them been brought up to those very pursuits. The Colonel certainly knows little about the hardy sons of Erin, who come hither to assist us in getting in our hay and our corn, and to make our roads and canals. There are several counties in England, where the harvests could not be got in without the assistance of the Irish labourers; and this is so notorious that I am almost ashamed to state it.That reason is done for, then. And what is the next? That the Irish are liable to desert. Are they so? Why, then, if that be a good reason, it is good for all other regiments as well as yours, and then we ought to have no Irish at all in the service. But, do not the Germans desert? Do you not recollect how many of them were taken out at sea in boats, going from that very coast where your regiment now is? And, certainly, going with an intent to land upon the enemy's shores? Are not Irishmen as good as these? You talk of " the loyalty, cou"rage, and fidelity" of the Irish. Now, if this be their character, how is it possible, that they could have been excluded from the Prince's own regiment on account of their proneness to desert, which cannot take place without a known breach of an oath of fidelity? Accord This is very generous in you; and, you cannot blame the Irish if they take you at your word. But, did this order, or instruction, fixing such a stigma upon the Irish ; did it really proceed originally from your German superior? Did it, bonâ fide, take its start from his brain? The regulations for enlisting into a regiment are amongst its most important concerns. I am of opinion, that it seldom happens, that a Lieut. Colonel will take upon him to establish so important a regulation as that which we are speaking of. Surely the Prince must have been apprized of its existence in his regiment.Of this more another time. A few words now about the foreigners in the regiment.-Colonel Palmer tells us, that there are not now above 30 in the regiment. It was observed in my last, that the Germans who had been enlisted from the prisons, after the inquiry first made by Lord Folkestone were said to have been dismissed. There are, however, 30 in the regiment now, it seems, and I should like to know how many of them are non-commissioned officers. Colonel Palmer says, that he never has preferred foreigners to Irishmen. What does he mean by this? He takes his share, he says, of the instructions given to the recruiting Officers, and, in those instructions, Irishmen are forbidden to be enlisted; while neither he nor any one can deny, that the regiment has, and recently too, enlisted foreigners; and, that if there be not now above a hundred in the regiment, the prevention is not to be attributed to the Of ficers commanding, but to the inquiry of Lord Folkestone upon the report of the army estimates, when the Secretary of the pen. specting foreigners employed in our service. They consisted of three classes: 1st, Foreign Officers in our regiments,-2d, Privates enlisted into different corps,and 3d, Officers appointed to the Staff. He would not say positively that more foreign troops were employed by his Majesty than could be justified by law; he could not, however, help feeling some jealousy when he recollected, that at the period of the breaking out of the war only five thousand were in our service, though the increase now amounted to 30,000; and he must remark, that the several acts of parliament which had been passed on this subject, justiñed him in expressing a doubt, whether by the old law the King was authorised to employ foreigners in his army. The 34th Geo. III. empowered the King to enlist foreigners, subjects to the late King of France. The 39th and 40th enabled his Majesty to receive into his pay certain Dutch ships, and to give commissions to Dutch officers. If, then, it was necessary that the authority of Parliament should have been asked on these occasions, it was a strong presumption that no such power existed in the King by the old law of the land. On this subject, however, he would state no opinion, but must look with all the anxiety felt by our ancestors on the great increase of foreign troops. If these troops were to be called home into this country from that service in which they were now, no doubt, most meritoriously engaged, he supposed, indeed, that the House would be required to pass an indemnity on those who should advise the measure; but he, himself, could not be pleased at the prospect of an army of 30,000 foreigners residing in this country. They were, in fact, a complete army; consisting of cavalry, infantry, artillery, engineers, and a general staff, together with the whole equipment which forms an army. The 46th of the King did not justify the employment of foreigners to such an extent. That act enabled his Majesty to employ foreign officers in foreign corps, because it was justly thought, that the discipline and comfort of soldiers would be promoted by the superintendance of officers speaking the same language, and professing the same habits. This, however, he conceived, did not jusTues-rity of Generals; and he was quite sure, tify the delegation to them of the authothat it did not authorise the appointment of German Generals to the staff in this country. He had examined the army In my next I shall notice the arguments made use of by the Secretary of War and Mr. Perceval in justification of the measures of which Lord Folkestone complained. I shall dismiss the subject for present, with once more requesting the reader to go through the whole of the following debate. WM. COBBETT. State Prison, Newgate, Friday, 13th March, 1812. FOREIGN TROOPS. Debate, in the House of Commons, on |