The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1861-01-01 00:00:00

LORD PALMERSTON AND THE ROMSRY
VIAUNTEERS.
lioness'. Friday.
Pul o PO and their appeareses is lb.
11.wieree.tranitown.y ofprewnt.
wsrpearesyirigun!f'airintnlgitedfie:u::::entaribe"Tilli'lueumrrY!:ityrdilitaiNlinLiiol4lwLsainilhdPy:
• by Lord Pal-
C•
gl4• 11.:uPni
Lord J'alunret.itu, in ao,,liilg, nloaal46::
unerst"n." which wa. drunk with great
the way in which you have bc-eu good enough
nd
Lord
to.• kPiii.oronide:
I.reseu,t at a iiirotintg of this kin'i c•
ud in tlii.i to VD. It
is onh".s.l'la for ally ~rsou who lisa any share in tb.
reepi.u,auliflty of conducting ti,. slairs of this great
ci try tint to take the most lively interest in this
Volunteer iuiovemciit, which, although .1 recellt origin.
be difficult ter any Krum who saws▪ how this mown AIM
has been progressing. and what features it has swum ad
in his own lieu, neighbourhood, nut to feel prou
dv
MI I ilo if toe corps whic:i lied been nosed In th is.
tows of (Cheers.) We are, perhaps,
gentlemen. too opt to be carried away by names, and
to attach iliatinctions to words which do ant exist its
things. We have been accuatomed to think of the
Volunteer force of the country as differing too essen•
tially front those other military I naval arrays by
which the country is to be defended Hut, although the
force to %%Welt you belong has been peculiarly and
emphatically called a volunteer force, you must not,
forget that you are in that respect, in regard to the
nature of your service, standing precisely on the same
!outing as the eraiy. the navy, and ti,.. militia. You Sr.
all volunteers, for in this country, fortunately, the
loyalty and the public spirit of the people are
ouch that WU are Out °Dwelled to resort to • forced
and conscribod service. (Cheers.) Every man
who serves his Sovereign and lan country
in this happy land is a voliniteer ; and, there.
fore, although you way emphatically and by way of dis-
tinction he called the volunteers of Esiglaaa'. you Inuit
not assume to )ourselves any peculiar no.vit fur your
voluntary services, a. your share, although no doubt
you would share the glories of the army, the navy, and
tile militia, if ever your country required your eirreiese.
(Cheers.) It would be presumption in any Mali, wire Is
merely &civilian, to give you any advice as to the Maar
tier in which you perform your dutiea or acquire rho
proper skill and science necessary for the proper pestle.-
mance of thee. duties. But I may be permitted to ro.•
mind you that the duties of the rifle corps to which you
belongare greater, and require a larger degree of skill.'
and scietus, than those of corn* formed on a different
print iple ; because you have not only to learn the duties
which peculiarly belong to light troops employed on
skirmishing service, but you have also to learn those
inure steady duties which more properly belong to what
is called battalion exercise, and you may be aura that.
however circumstances or recent events have led men
to think that loose and irregular troops are a match for
those which are organised on • more skiEed and steady
principle, you will find that in order to give effect to your
determination to do good service to your country, you
must iicquire the steadiness of battalion niovementa,
and something iiiorui than the mere activity of skirmish.
leg parties. But if you need an encouragement, all that
is necessary is that you should look to what your
countrymen have done in different parts of the world.
It was said in former times that we were not • military
nation,—that we were skilful and brave upon the
ocean, but that oar tames and habits did wit lead us to
equal military ili.tinction. Rut there are certain his- -
toriuil record:, of the Peninsular war and Waterloo that
sufficiently Mute any opinion of that Port. (Cheers.)
Let me call your mind—you who are esseistisiny civilians.
—to the nialiner in which omen equally civilians, ?lam!
' in the must difficult circumststices, have shown that
they belonged to the same h rule race as yourselves. I
refer to the events which took place in India deriog the
Sepoy mutiny. You there saw civilians scattered in
small numbers throughout different parts of an immense
empire attacked suddenly in different parts of the
country—attacked, too, by a superior force—and you
found them bravely awl stoutly defending Dwane/wee,
resisting everywhere and displaying in their constant
not only that bravery which belonged to them
as Englishmen, but military skill which couldi
hardly be expected from men untrained:
to war. (Cheers.) The result was that the exertions of
the civilians, in concert with those of the troop. who•
happened to be there, were sufficieht to quell the mutiny
before reinforceinents could arrive from England.
(Loud cheers.) I say that this is a great encouragement
to civilian Volunteers of this country, and ought to
induce them to pursue that course which they have so
nobly begun. We may rest assured that if ever they
I are called into action in defence of their country they
will nut only display all the bravery which belongs to
) their race, but will not be found wanting in that know-
of military skill ad military tactics which is as essen•
tial a. bravery to success in warlike operations. (Loud
cheers.) Gentlemen, I hop? I may be permitted, in
return for the kind manner in which you have received
the toast which has just been drunk, to propose a
fur Vier ti Sit. I need scarcely say that the toast
I would mis'i to propose is the health of your worthy
commando g officer, Captain Henderson (clieera),—•
gentleman who pouu,ses the esteem and goodwill
of all who live in this district, and • gentleman
who in his military capacity— for AO I will call it—
combines that firmness which is essential to the mean-
teriance of discipline with the kindness and good.
heartedness which command the affection of those who
serve under him. ((heers.) I am setiafied that usdar
his direction the Itoinacy Volunteer Corps will become
1 an honour to the country, aril particularly to the-
' district to which they belong. I trust I may be pee-
-1 nutted to add to the toast the health of the fair lady-
from whose hands you received this morning, with all
the graces of instiller and all the heartfelt feelings
which become the occasion, that flag which here/alter
will be the centre of your movement. (Loud cheers.).
I Jolt you to drink the health of Mrs. Henderson, as
well as that of Captain Henderson ; and I am sure you
will drink the toast with all the honours due to it.
(Great cheering.)
The Chairman. in a brief speech, responded, and pro-
posed " Thellealth of Mr. Dutton," as a member of the
Rifle Corps committee.
The Hon. R. Dutton, in acknowledging the
toast, said :—We frequently compare our system with
that adopted in France ; but we all know that in France
conscription prevail., which I feel assured is a system
which in this country we shall never have recourse to.
(Hear.) I cannot think that under any circumstances
such • system would be found necessary in England. It
is a remarkable fact that, although the imputation of
the two countries was widely different at the close of
an
7.000,000,
ea
hietween 2(1
Therefore rndays ii, scrdraw upon f4ou
irdtthirthehisleyr°icountryagesirun Volunteersesdtnatconscription.
as
ioit ilffeduxye• i"tstr enht!icv ao‘
ieefl
tiboifi thul:p
th'• aitrLeahfir e:neunr seir
earlyirt.
did so because they thought that the people of this
country would not voluntarily stand the privatiolis of
the !laid if. they were called into active service. But in

the time ut the second Stuart, iu the
.Cotoinonwealth::

a period to which I refer with mingled feelings of pride
and regret, I cannot forget that the great army of the
country was chosen from men of the class I now see
before me. The great General of the Commonwealth
was civilian until lie reached the age of 44, and cherished
no ardour for military pursuits until the tide of his
career had turned the fortunes of Naseby and won the
field of Maraton•nwor against the trained forces of the
Royalists. With such an example before us we need
scarcely recall the deeds of our modern tine's. (Cheers.)
Before I *it down allow me to say a word in my
capacity as one of your representatives in Parliament.
I believe I speak the sentiments of all who reprepent
you when I say that we look upon this movement with
, the deepest interest. We see in it our great arm of
defence, and it is our duty in our places in Parliament
to see that the national aff.drs of the kingdons are
placed in such a state as always to preserve the dignity
of the country unimpaired. (Cheers.) I trust we shall
long remain free and prosperous at home, and able to
take our places with effect in the council of nations,
and that it will not be for a word lightly spoken that
the country will again be plunged in the horrors of
war. (('heers.)
Other toasts of a local nature followed, and the pro-
ceedings were brought to a close.