The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1859-08-09 00:00:00

DORCHESTER RIFLE CORPS.

On Friday afternoon a public meeting, convened
by the Mayor of this borough, Henry Lock, Esq.,
according to a resolution of the Town Council, was
held at the Townhall, for the purpose of considering
the desirability of forming a Volunteer Rifle Corps
for Dorchester and the neighbourhood. There was
a full attendance of influential and ii.eveLtable per-
sons resident in the town.

The Mayon said he had called the meeting together,
in pursuance of a resolution of the Town Council, for
the purpose of considering the propriety of establishing
• Volunteer Rifle Corps in this town and neighbourhood,
and he was pleased to find the call had been so well
responded to, for he did not anticipate so large a gather-
ing. It must be admitted, he thought, on all bands
that • necessity existed for forming corps of the kind
named, when the large number of armed men on the
continent was considered. There were not less than •
million and • half of armed men on the continent,
while not a hundred thousand men belonged to Our
own standing, army, hence sonic means of providing
ari.tdst an
in etmhiesrgenonneyntryth.
in
atmcniginididaerriisengshthounlbed
nbtenientnia-
b of making this needful provision, it must he renion-
bered that is very proper jealousy both upon constitu-
tional and economical grounds reigned against increas-
ing our standing army; and he thought the meeting
would agree with him that our surest 1110104 of defence
was relying upon our ownselves, and that the middle
' classes were the persons to whom the couutry's defence
might be safely entrusted. The meting was aware
that Her Majesty's Government had, in their wisdom,
encouraged the Volunteer Rifle Corps movement, and
they had done so by offering 1.1.1 per cent, of the rifles
required. This number of arms would, his Worship
conceived, be adoinate for the purposes of drill; and
many persons joining Volunteer Rifle Corps would pro-
vide their own arms. The expense of the corps was •
matter of consideration. The meeting WOUld agree
with him that the establishment of the corps ought to
he as economical and etas reasonable • ride as possible.
The genaal opinion respecting the equipments in the
shape of dress was that they could be provided for
£2 10s. or £1; and after this outlay the ordinary ex-
penses would not exceed an annual subscription of
r each man. Such being the case, his Worship
fancied it would be like joining a cricket club in one's
own neighbourhood, and volunteers 111114 take the same
amount of interest in learning the use of the rifle as our
ancestors used to do in the practice of the bow and arrow.
The Chairman concluded by calling upon
Mr. THOMAS COOMBS, whet moved the first resolution.
After the able explanation of the Mayor he (Mr.
contain) need say very little in proposing—That a
Volunteer Rifle Corps be forthwith formed for the town ,
and neighbourhood of Dorchester, to be called the Dor-
chester Volunteer Ride Corps
aaingMnortw.hJeto. Frei.osniHnloninnotianitengre.,
wishes and intentions of the meeting in coming forward
jet. Nothing
ttfhi eoi Inn
ga
r emwaol st
vie furtherloeia le r e,
thanifnwrit o ts
an hdy;
•single word either of distrust or unfriendliness towards
a neighbouring and gallant body of men, the French
nation. A greet deal had been said in this country, he
was sorry to observe, which in the judgment of many
had better have been unsaid, because it did not at all
follow that from motives of
policy respecting the state of
the continent the people of this country wished to put
themselves in a state of defence, or had any distrust of
foreign Powers; lead of all should we manifest any dis-
trust of the French nation, our nearest neighbours. In
considering the question before the meeting there was
ample justification for the course now being taken
throughout the country in the very circumstance that it
was not in reference to France that our attention had to
be directed. We were among the strong nations of the
world, possessed of valuable dependencies in different
Parts of the globe, • mighty Indian Empire which
demanded a considerable portion of our unending army;
and all those places must rely upon the assistance they
could obtain from the standing army of this country.
This led to the consideration whether as regarded our
internal means of defence it was not safe, proper, and
justifiable, in every
in
of view, for the youth of this
country to prepare emselves to form one means of
t h
Internal defence n case our safety were threatened.
Thus a powerful economical instrument could be mule
use of in such a forces' that contemplated to be formed,
for the maintenance of a standing army was • very
great burden. The existence of Volunteer Corps, too,
would have the good effect of lessening the number of
regular troops needed abroad, while the large abstraction
of soldiers necessary for our foreign, an 4 especially our
Indian defence, made the establishment of this voluntary
description of internal defence almost imperative. There
we* another observation be should like to make. They
would rejoice to see the Dorchester Volunteer Corps in-
cluding, cide by side, all classes heartily and Eke
Englishmen uniting for one common object. He
thought on this account they should not be destitute et

funds from a large number who were known to be very
wiling to rive ; and prlably, from the asidatice of
inany, either the way of fitting out their ..ervants or
the sons of pc mons in their employ, tin ra wot ill ctist no
.lystacle in the way of outh.y ter all cla..v to join
t..getl..r, on time excell‘mt footing of uniting for
the welfaro of the country. Dorchester ought net to
behital-han.l in this praiseworthy movement_; he 'rag
quite acre there were Won: thanamply sntlicient of
y.iung men willing to volunteer and serve in thls neigh-
oi,tior ml, and hoped that the imtrnetion derivel. niia
the public spirit excited would bare the best possible effect,
and have a tendency to cherish those feelings and wishes
all entertained that we tiii;ht still enjoy the blessings of
peace—but the blessings of peace experience taught were
best preserved by being prepared to meet any emer-
gency. Ile had been a good deal struck by the words,
recently uttered, of a very high authority in Parliament
to the effect that—With all frimullincsA, and with alt
wishes to preserve the blessings of peace, I will not con-
sent that the invaluable interests of thin great country,
and the position of this country in the nations of the
world, should be left altogether to the presumed friendli-
ness of ally nation OT of any individual whatsoever. Kr.
Hodges concluded by seconding the resolution.
The M.sruu put the resolution, and it passed unani-
mously.
Ur. J. BISHOP said, that the first resolution having
been so unanimously carried, declaring that it was
desirable to form a olunteer Rifle Corps for this town
and neighbourhood, it followed trill there mast be
seine means taken to give it effect. The usual coons
in such cases was to appoint a good working committee,
for the purpose of considering those matters of detail
which might be needful for carrying out the object of
the resolution, and putting it into eliketital practice.
Ile must take the opportunity of stating that he win-
cided entirely with the remarks his friend, Mr. Hodges,
had just made. It had been asserted that we did not
propose to form these corps in any aggressive spirit, or
to interfere with the regulations, liberties, wishes, of
any other people whatever; our only desire was to
protect our awn country, our own coasts, our own homes,
from all the evils—he might say the horrors—of foseign
invasion. We knew very well that our coasts were very
much exposed to the inroads of a hostile army; wit*
the exception of Portland, which was now being fortified
for the first time, we had an altogether open coast.
Not long since he heard an old sea captain say that
he would undertake, when the weather was favourable,
to land thousands of inch during any hour of the day or
night, along any part of the coast of the West Bay,
and as far as Exeter, there was an open coast and deg
water, without any natural impediment which would
prevent ships from coming close to bind, and enabling
the men to jump ashore. This certainly was not a stid•
of things, which we as Englishmen ought to permit.
We had no right and no disposition, having our atten-
tion directed to the subject, to allow ourselves to be in
such a position as that we were entirely dependent ea
foreign nations whether or not they should come to
annoy us and interfere with our laws, liberties, and
homes. Therefore nothing need be said as to the
necessity of our forming the particular kind of corps and
force, which would have a tendenel to repel foreign
invaders, if they entertained a disposition to attack us.
or not it- we had

Whether or o. such a disposition existed, we
means of ascertaining, we could form our oonclusioas
from actual circunistaixes only. In the immediate
vicinity of our coasts, as had been stated, there were
not only armed hosts ready to embark on the scenes of
war, bat a very large, well appointed, well armed fleet,
that Beet being at the direction and under the
command of Louis Napoleon, the Emperor of the
French. What his Majesty's object was in getting up and
manning that fleet was known to himself alone; he was
a Sovereign who never allowed his own Government to
know the designs locked up in his own breast.. Those
designs, whatever they might be, were formed in secret;
lie brooded over them and bided his time until the oppor-
tunity arrived for carrying out those designs. There
were very few countries on the face of the earth ',Do-
wsing a navy which could cope with the navy which the
Emperor of the French had fitted out; and it would
never do for this country to permit itself to be at tho
tender mercies of a Sovereign like Louis Napoleon:
hence we uneit provide a national means of defence.
This was not the first time that Englishmen had had to
provide for, to contemplate, and to make provision
against the evils of invasion. Every one would recollect
that about a hundred years ago not only did the French
contemplate an invasion of our country on a large
scale, they actually put men aboard and their ships set
sail; and it was our brave Admiral Hawke* who went
to ineet them, drove them into their own shallow waters,
engaged them at great risk to his own ships, and
defeated them; and half a century since Lord Nehem,
of inneertal memory, when the first Napoleon was
about to attack our shores, went against them, would
not wait for their ships to come out of their harbours,
but was sent by the Government of the day to block-
ade their pens. Not only did the noble Nelson do
that etketually, but he went into the harbour of Bou-
logne in the night, and cut away some of the ships
intended to bring French soldiers to vanquish we
country. We were now, however, in a different peti-
tion. The navy was effective to prevent the hostile
intentions of any people being carried out; bat now the
invention of steam had altogether altered the ease, and
we might consider the opposite coasts divided from
us merely by a lengthened bridge, a bridge that might
at any time be extended to this country, and it was
possible that with the best provisions in the world, for
us to be invaded by a hostile army from the oppesite
side. This formed a reason why we should be provided
with eland force sufficient to repel and deter any hos-
tile army or sovereign on the other side of the water
from attempting to invade our couatry, and interfere
with our laws, regulations, and liberties. Mr. Bishop.
concluded by proposing that a provisional committee be
appointed in order to give effect to the resolution
already carried, the members of the committee to be
nominated by the meeting.
Mr. A. S. MASON had great pleasure in seconding the
proposition. He was happy to see that Volunteer
Rifle Corps were being formed, because in this country
we could not afford to have a large standing army.
Our small land force of 30,000 or 40,000 men would not
go far to meet a vast oontinentalanuy. If Louis Napoleon,
who was said to labour under the idea that his destiny
was to conquer England and wipe out Waterloo, knew
that we were guarded by 200,000 or 300,000 trained 111311111
belonging to Rifle Corps he would not dare to risk sae\
an encounter. A good deal of ridicule had been cast
upon the volunteer movement, and it was said they
would never be able to shoot straight; but he remem-
bered that at Bunker's Hill it was but slightly trained
men who forced the veterans of the mother country to
turn, and at Carolina the Militia, under General Jack-
son, did capital execution from behind the cotton hags.
However, he trusted the hour would never arise when.
we should have to fire a shot in defence of our shores.
The MAYOR then named the committee, and the
resolution (which will he found in our advertising
columns), was passed unanimously.
Mr. HODGES had heard, and no doubt many others
had heard, gentlemen signify a wish to contribute to
fund to defray expenses which it might not he in the
power of all who joined the Dorchester Volunteer Rifle
Corps to meet on their own account. He, therefore,
moved theta subscription be opened in aid of the ?Rada
of the Dorchester Volunteer Rifle Corps.
Mr. JOHN BRONX seconded the motion, and it passed.
Mr. HODGES, in reply to Mr. T. H. Ewer, said, he
thought it would be the province of the committee to
get together all the information they could on the sub-
of these corps, not only from the War Office, but
that the 'Let duty of the WM' MTOuliddrebemthaireerek:dlYantry, and
pat
it
into
a shape
iwmlnimichea it llm
parts
mittee would be to form rules for the guidance of the
corps. He invited any young men who were desirous of
taking the lead in the formation of the Dorchester
Volunteer Rifle Corps to come and sign their names. In
a short time no less than fifteen names were obtained
and His Worship said he hoped in the course of a week
that number would be enginented to 50 ; and he should
be glad if persons willing to join the corps would seed
their names to him.
Mr. WANLAND proposed, and Mr. 0. H. DAVIS
seconded, a vote of thanks to the Mayor for his Washa-
ble conduct in the chair, and the compliment laying
been acknowledged, the meeting separated.