The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1859-12-27 00:00:00

D Clion sbirc.

A numerous and influential meeting of noble-
men, deputy lieutenants, magistrates, and yeomen
of the county of Devon, conveinsl lit the Lord-Lieu-
tenant (Earl Fortescue), was held on Monday at the
Caatle of Exeter, to pr te the formation of volun-
teer ride corps in the rural districts of the county.
and to receive the reportsi of what hail been already
accomplished. Earl Forte/eve presided, and among
those presKiit were the Kin i of Devon. Lord Thur-
ston, Lord Poltimore, Sir T. D. Aclanil, Sir E. S.
Pridemix (Majr-( 'uii,iiuui,lant of the Exeter and
South Devon Hil'e Corps), Sir S. If. Northcote,
Nip., Sir J. L. Duntze, Sir J. T. B. limb worth,
Sir M. Lopes, M.P., Sir J. Koinaway, Sir W. IL
Tonkin. the Him. (. H. Trefusis, M.r.,-the Hon.
I and Rey. .1. Forte,me, Mr. S. I'. Rekewich,
Mr. J W M. I'., Mr. It. S. Gard, M.P.,
Mr. Mills, Mr. T. I). Aden& ke.
Earl Furteseue. ill orenitig the proceedings of the
meeting, maid that the plan for the extension Of rifle
volunteers into the rut d districts of the county hail
received the atiproliation of the authorities at the
Warmfriee. ) He had received a letter from
the Under• Secretary for War, who said :
° I understand that you have called a public meting
in Devonshire oil the subject of the foriaatiliti of eon*
to( unloaded rifle vohinteent. and I mu juuluemi, by the
interest which I feel in the sticeew of the imminent, hi
trouble you with thia not.: for the purpose iJ asmritig
you that this plan meets with Mr. licrbert's apiiroba.
tion. A corps of this kind, if organized on a good
swim, will be very n,eful, and I have little doubt th t
if the athdupt 110 W making in your orility prove.; sat.
ca..wful, the e‘aiiiiile w 41 be extenaively followed el-4-
where. I trust that your mounted riflemen (and to ti.is
the noble Earl called the particular attention of the
meeting) will 'war in mind that they are infantry OD
horseback, and not civalry acting occadonally on foot.
Infantry drill should be the basis of their instruction ;
the rifle, and nut the sword. the principal weapon."
(('heers.) The noble earl then remarked upon the
'tate and eirountatances of affairs both at Inane and

abroad which had given rise to the rifle movement.
and which had happily, he said, exteedeil throughout
the length and breadth of the heel. (I beers.) He
lea &Nays earnestly desired to see the relations of
alliance and amity lowly established between Eng-
land anti France. lle must say ZINO that he never
for one moment hail entertained any apprehensions
of an invasion. He believed that the great ruler of
France knew too well the true interests of the
country which he ruled over to desire to see any
interruption of reciprocal good feeling and friend-
ship between that conntry and this. (Hear, hear.)
Further, he believed that the Emperor had the
enorgy and power to tarry out his desires. But
they must not forget the important words of the
Duke of Wellington,—that steam navigation had
, bridged over the sea. He felt, therefore, that this
' Ls.untry must not owe to the forbearance and will of
any other country its exemption from insult or pro-
tection from attack. They had up to a recent
I period considered themselves a nation of sailors, and
their enemy hail once called them a" nation of shop-
keepers"; but a new era had now dawned, and they
must henceforth resolve to make England perma-
nently a nation of soldiers. ((beers.)
The Earl of Devon moved the first resolution, to
the effect that the meeting cordially recognized the
importance of permanent volunteer organization for
the defence of the country. fle believed that a per-
manent volunteerorganization was that which would
enable England to speak with that weight in the
councils of the world which she had hitherto doue
(Hear.)
Mr, Buller. M.P., eevontled the resolution, in
doing which he said, that when they saw France
and Ramie enraged in forming large naval forms, it
was necessary to preserve, as far as in them lay,
their naval supremacy. and to kt ep up a permanent
volunteer fotce at bonze. (cheers.)
The motion W3S carried unanimously.
Loril linr,ton ii,,,,,,, nett tedolution, in which
.le• desirability of extending the tire corps of Wails
to the-rural districts was expreesed. His Lordship
congratulated the country on the patriotism of the
la ins. awl stated that Lady Rolle had signified her
intention of equipping from 25 to 30 men at her own
cost—an example which he hoped would be eaten.
eively followed. (t lawn. )
Mr. T. F. Adana se-minded the resolution, and
'stated that Lord Praha:ore and himself had just suc-
ceeded in forming a riCe company of 60 men in their
neil.lll.ourhood. (Cheers.)
Tim motion was carried by acclamation.
Several magistrates pet-vent reported that AIN
companies hal Imam formed in various parts of the
county of Devon. -
Lord Poltienore then moved, and Sir Massey
Lopes seconded the appointment of a committee,
which was tarried.
Mr. W. Pieter stated that be had succeeded in
g a corps of 00 men in three small parish...es
with which he was connected, and that, although at
first it was understood that Government would only
supply one-half the number of rifles required, he
wad hum happy to state to the meeting that he had
Jut received a letter from the Secretary for War,
announcing that Dovemment was prepared to supply
the whole of the titles, (Cheers.)
A UllanitUOUS vote of thanks to the noble Lord'
Lieutenant for his zeal in permuting county rills
corps concluded the proceedings of the meeting.