The Sun.
London, England, 1841-08-17 00:00:00

• .
THE EGERTON YEOMANRY.
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. The following are extracts from a ;(atteF -a
I.ddress --`,ll --
, ordWan-cis Egerton to the 211anch oZr Chios c 1
ykir
tive to the formation of a yeomanr :terair in Lanni a. 43').
" I find that in some respects those vehci heive-undealle.
my defence, and who are erroneous) Aescz,ibeds as hi N 114:;
done so under instructions from me, ave been II
11 '--in
mistaken in matters of fact as my assailants... kla,bott 8 Cl-
ing these publications I find myself ell*. toi-sviitlryttat ~(1 .'usoffences, some against common sense and disc.retida: ;a -ad
others against the law and constitution of th e coup it' y
and with intentions of a murderous and blood-.thirsty 475- -
scription.
" The first and most distinct charge is, that I have, or t
my own authoriry, raised an armed force. Are the edit( na a
of papers in large circulation, and the corresponder It
whoa: letters they admit, so ignorant as not to kn osv th at
I should
be immediately prosecuted by the Attc'frneY-
General for such a proceeding, and that any armed _force
raised without I: uthority from the Sovereign, procu 'rai
through her MinisZers, would be instantly suppressed I
proclamation? "
I am described as having made myself its colon ti.
It has no colonel, because, consisting only of thr et ,
troops, it is not, by the rules of the War-office, entitl ca
t
to a commandant of higher rank 'than a major, and it
is to that command and rank I have succeeded, on . a
vacancy, by permission of the Queen, procured as usi &al
through the recommendation of the Lord Lieutena at.
My son has filled another vacant and subaltern comm is-
sion, and after all these formidable proceedings, I b e-
lieve there are still some officers and marry privat es
wanting to complete the corps up to the establiahme a t.
allowed and provided for by the Government. .It wat 3
under these circumstances that some forty or fifty- -of 7.13 y
neighbours and tenants expressed to me a wish toe farm
themselves into an additional troop, in the hope of
being commanded by ray son. The offer was made w., t:
out any any previous knowledge or suggestion on my part
" I amalesciibed as having done that which I have n, it
done, on communication with Sir Robert Peel. I hal 'a
had no communication, direct or indirect, with by xt
whatever in the matter.
" I have given elsewhere the reason why I have nc ,t
taken any one of the steps which would have been neces -
sary towards raising the additional troop lam accuse, I
of having levied. I repeat, however, my confession an, I
assurance, that if the application of those who, withou t
any suggestion of my own, wished to form one, hat I
reached me earlier, I should have had no hesitation ii 1
recommending their appliclition to the existing Govern -
ment's consideration. I should have done so on th to
grounds, first, that I could strongly depend on the loy-alt y
and good conduct of those who madeit ; and next, the it
the establishment of the force in Lancashire is far inferi( ke
to that of any county I know of similar irnpoatance. I
do not believe that the corps, at the am ual exercise it at
June, mustered above 150 men, includ.;.irp; officers. E.
have served in the Staffordshire Yeomanry a +hen it was..
tered between 700 and 800. In Yorkshirt%, Cheshire,
and Warwickahire, I believe this force is ..) n a similar
footing. It is certainly possible that the presen t Govern-
ment, or any other, might not consider thosk - circum-
stances sufficient to authorise an increase. (hit lions of
public and private individuals may differ as to the^ value
and efficiency of this description of force,. and circum-
stances of time and place may affect the exTecir iency
of adding to its numbers. ,My own opinion is, that
the force is a valuable one, and ought tie be ens. ou-
raged within reasonable limits ; and that, whet, 'ler
to be increased or not, resident gentlemen •dta
well to undertake the command of existing-
corps, though the task may, under circum-
stances of extreme, and, I trust, rare occurrence, be re-
sponsible and invidious. No man in his senses could:
think it a desirable thing, per se, to command, a detaCii-
ment of yeomanry in a civil conflict, which I am said to
anticipate, lam quite sure, however, that if the gen- •
tlemen of England are always to be contemplating said.
shrinking beforehand from such disagreeable poa-silaDi--
ties, the interests of the country at large vvill suffer with:
their own. I will, however, at once admif, that if thee
apprehensions of imminent disturbance which I ant sup-
posed to entertain had ever entered my head, the raisin, gent
my own estate at such a moment a single troop of yeoman-
ry, is ant a measure I should have taken for my own pfotte-
ton or that of others,and that I should at least have waited:.
for the fullest sanction of the existing Government be-
fore I for a moment entertained such a proposal taunt
others. As it is, the proposal has originated exclusivielr
in the desire of some friends and neighbours to server
under my son, and I pledge myself has had no reference,
whatever to any particular circumstances of the time:.
On these grounds, I repeat, I should not have hesitated.
at a proper period for such application—viz., before the,
estimates for the year are made up—to state this roightv•
matter in all its bearings to her Majesty's present Alini:-•
stry, who, should they have thought fit to*reject thee
offer of the parties, would assuredly have done so on.,
better grounds than the strange and unfounded supposi-
tions to which that offer has given rise.
" I am not desirous to load your columns with a disqui-
Isition or eulogy on the yeomanry force, but I am tempts ti 1
to allude to one of its attributes which I consider a.
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merit; that, like many other institutions in this country,'
it brings together for a common and legitimate purpose
men of various polities. I have served mys.elf in the .
Staffordshire corps under Lords Ratherton and .biebfieV .
The latter, I believe, still commands it, and pi.omot( s
its efficiency to the utmost by his example and infLuenc,
That among the officers in general my own pefsmi.•
sion in politics may preponderate I think probable, .fiu.;
in a county where I occasionally reside, Surrey, Lord:
Lovelace commands the yeomanry. I see that the.
Queen's escort of Hertfordshire Yeomanry, on her Ma-.
jesty's recent visit to Pansanger, was commanded Ly-
Lord Cowper. If I mistake not, I have seen addresse:_
moved or seconded in Parliament very lately, under-
Whig Administrations, by gentlemen in yeomanry uni-
forms. At the last annual exercise of the West riding-,
, corps,,Mr. Stuart Wortley happened to be mounted oil
the horse of a brother officer ; the lender was Lord i 1
ton, his announced antagonist for the expected election.
"I believe some of the Blue and Yellow farmers present;
could hardly understand it. I do, and value it.
" I really hope that my friends of the Whig or Raclic:Z
Press, whom I have usually found fair though uncom-
promising opponents, will reduce their imaginations to a.
peace establishment ; condemn the :yeomanry, if they-
please, or me for joining it, but in common justice acquit.
me of the long-sighted, sinister, and blood-thirsty inten-
tions which I am bold to say are not consistent with my
general conduct or reputation. At all events, let theiii
acquit Sir Robert Peel, whom I am ready to expurgate
upon oath of all. participation in or knowledge of the
matter.—l remain, Sir, your obedient servant,
‘.‘ F. EGERTON."

DEPLORABLE CONDITION OF ST. NICHO-
LAS'S PARISH, DEPTFORD.—On Wednesday the Magis-
trate at the Greenwich Poliee Court was occupiej
for a considerable time in hearing cases against no fewer
than one hundred and forty persons who had been sum-
moned for the non-payment of Poor-rates. The
parochial officers and their solicitor, Mr. Sandon,
were present. The first case that came on was that of
a poor widow, who was summoned for not paying.
13s. 6d. Her appearance beipoke the greatest poverty,,
and she declared that herself and seven childrenhad
nothing to eat on Tuesday but a pennyworth of
dbrraewan.d.
At the suggestion of Mr. Grove the claim vas ivi
The second case was that of an old man w,lio was in
arrears to the amount of 11. 4s. He deClared .his utter
inability to :pay, adding that if it had not been for his
landlord lie should have been starved. He further stated
.that hinitelf, wife, and children, had nothing but bread
for days ''together. He was released from the rate. Mr.
Burlee, Lseerctary to the Deptford Pier Company,
`and one: of the Churchwardens, said that no one
could.:•pitY' more than he did the condition of the.
persoils (the two cases above related being a sample of
the others)whom they had that day summoned. He had gene
round the parish, and had witnessed the extreme wretched-
ness and poverty that existed, a vast number being
actually without bread or bed, and although literally
starving, they preferred it to going into the Greenwich
union, the Guardians of which had proceeded against
himself and the other officers, and it had cost him
2501. Bs. 10d. to redeem his goods, which had been
siczed by the guardians for the contribution due for the
support o the poor of St. Nicholas. The parish under
these circumstances, had no alternative but to take
the proceedings against the defaulters. The other cases
were gone into. Some were excused, and others
allowed time.
HER MAJESTY'S ARABIAN PONIES.—Great
difficult has been experienced in rendering passably
tractable
the pair of beautiful Arabian ponies which were
' forwarded to her Majesty lest year as a present from the
Imaum of Muscat. Indeed, the Queen has never yet
ridden behind them, although some of the members of
_
the Royal household haveinfroer ude_nritvlyesdinevnlitlhdseemr inac-
companying her Majesty Great
Park. They have hitherto been pretty quiet in harness,
although in driving them great care and prudence were
required to be observed from their well-known vicious
propensities. On the afternoon of Friday last, as they
were being
.driven in one of the Royal phaetons from
the mews in Sheet-street, Windsor, to the Castle, fer
the purpose of Lord Alfred Paget taking an airing, one
d them became exceedingly restive, and during a violent
kicking fit, he got one of his legs over the pole, and
and broke it in two ; and before he could be quieted.
d he
got the other hind leg over the splinter-bar, where it was
entangled between the spokes of the wheel. His leg,
however, was extricated before he bad done himself very
serious injury, and he was taken back to the stables.
Her Majesty has since commanded that neither of the
Arabian ponies are ever again to be driven in harness ;
since it is very clear that, notwithstanding the greatpaina
which have been bestowed in training them, by her Ma-
esty's grooms to make them tractable, there are no
hopes, now, of ever rendering them quiet in harness.
TIT FOR TAT.—A young Englishman, while
at Naples, was introduced at an assembly of one of the
first ladies by a Neapolitan gentleman. While he was
there his snuff-box was stolen from him. The next day,
being at another house, he saw a person taking snuff out
of his box. He ran to his friend. "There, said he,
" that man in blue, with gold embroidery, is taking snuff
out of my box, stolen from me yesterday. Do you know
him ? Is he not a sharper ?" " Take care," said the other,
" that man is of the first quality." " I do not care for
his quality," said the Englishman, " I must have my
snuff-box again ;rn go and ask him for it." " Pray,'
said his friend, " be quiet, and leave it to me to got.haek
your box." Upon this assurance the Englishman went
'away after inviting his friend to dine with him the next
day. He accordingly came, and, as he entered, "There,"
said he, " I hive brought your snuff-box." " Well, how
did you obtain it ?" " Why," said the Neapolitan
nobleman, " I did not wish to make a noise about it
therefore I picked his pocket of it."—Duten's Memoirs.
We have reason to believe there is no truth in
the statement that an addition is to be made to our force
already on the North American statien. Sir C. Adam
is linea-roef-btoattrlee,pianacel
the toi
;but these a
twe of the same rates, which will be recalled.
othertake
the withphiize twofrgsahtieps :