The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1859-11-29 00:00:00

f relanb.

THE VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT.—There is a good deal
of common sense in the subjoined remarks, extracted
from a letter written by • Tipperary polioe-constable :
—" There are in this country thousands of ' good men
and true' who would gladly sacrifice their lives to pre-
serve the loved land of their birth from the pollution of
an invader's footstep. But they are unarmed, untrained,
unprepared to meet the struggle which is evidently im-
pending. There is also an Irish constsbularly of about
12,000 fighting men, pronounced by the highest military
authorities to be the finest body in the world. In
stature they rival the household troops, and in strength,
the power of enduring fatigue, and every other quality
that constitutes the soldier they equal, if not excel
them. And yet, however unwillingly, I must give ex-
pression to the startling truth that as • military body to
be used on • sodden emergency, they are utterly worth-
less. This deplorable inefficiency arises from the fact
that while invasion is on every tongue, the Government
still suffers this force to be armed with a miserable pop-
gun, incapable of projecting • bullet with any precision
to • distance of MOTO than 20 yards. The loyalty and
and courage of the Irish police are unquestioned, and
their geographical knowledge of the amities in which
they are located would be of the last importance in case
of • hostile invasion. Why, then, are they not armed
with the rifles, which, I underntand, are already pur-
cliane,l and lying up iu unmeaning house? Were those
arms once in the hands of the men, there are throughout
the country several military stations where the young,
active, and intelligent constables of the force could be
trained to knowledge and use of the rifle, and be thus
fitted in a few weeks to become instructors to the force
at large •, and then, before the spring of the ensuing
year would have panned away, the 12,000 men compris-
ing the Irish police with constitutions unahattered by
intemperance or excess, srotild be the most unerring
marktinen in Europe, as well as the most loyal iu.d the
best soldiers under the Crown."

Kuwaiti) or MKRIT.—Lord Carlisle WU present at
the presentation of a medal and gratuity bestowed
upon a bood-o3nstobla of the Cork constabulary on the
oomaion of his retirement from the terries. The
etable haring been tailed to the front, his Excellency
made a brief speech, concluding an follows :—" Officers
and men of the constabulary force,—l feel moot true
ptomain in discharging this office on the present owne-
slol2, portly because I think it most right and fit to pay
the honour due in any career or coiling to a performance
of duty so uniform, so constant, and so complete, and
partly, too, because I most uncereir wish to embrace
every becoming opportunity of evincing my interest In,

and my respect for, the admirable body of men to
which you belong. You are, indeed, often placed in
difficulties which no other body of men could so ably
cope with. There are some who think that we have
still sharper trials in store for us; some have no such
fears. Come what may, we are in the hands of a
Hi4ber Power, which, perhaps, we do not all enough
remember. What I now have to say is, that I feel
such faith in the spirit, intelligence, and loyalty of the
constabulary force of Ireland that I would ask no better
in the hour of trial than to cast my lot with them. I
have now only to give you, Head-constable Crowley,
your well-earned medal, and to wish you health
strength and happiness to wear it long." His Excel-
lency then fastened the medal on the breast of the
recipient, and shook him warmly by the hand. The
constabulary force havicg defiled, passed the Lord
Lieutenant, marched back to their barracks, and the
ceremony terminated.

MIL SMITH O'Bitigx.—This gentleman, long • favou-
rite with • Dublin audience, made his first appearance,
after 11 years' absence, on Thursday night at the
Mechanics' Institute, in the new character of • lec-
turer, the text of his discourse being America and her
institutions. His reception was most flattering. The
room wa& crowded to excess, and among those present
were many persons who held no views in common with
Mr. O'Brien. "For my own pert, I denounce as nefa-
rious usurpation, wherever or by whomsoever it might
have been effected—l denounce, as a national crime, the
piratic war which has been carried on against China—a
war in the guilt of which, alas! Ireland, as well as
England, is at present participating; and I feel con-
vinced that speedy retribution will avenge these crimes.
Even now the fate of England hangs upon the caprice of
• single individual (cheers), who may be found more
dangerous as a false friend than he would have been as
an avowed enemy. It is not difficult to conjecture
hat would have been the fate of the Eastern Empire of
Great Britain if the moment of the Sepoy mutiny had
been chosen as the suitable occasion for wiping out the
stain upon French honour which still clings to the
n.einories of Waterloo. If, when a moment even more
propitious shall arise, the avenger of Waterloo shall
strike • blow at the heart of a Power which is hated by
the whole French nation—if, at such a moment, the
forces of the British empire shall be scattered, and its
resources exhausted in bucanicring expeditions, the
people of England will repent, when it will he too late,
that they lent themselves in the hour of prosperity to •
raoacious and unprincipled career of plunder and usur-
pation."