The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-06 00:00:00

VOLUNTEER CORPS.

ST. GEORGE'S, HAT OVER SQUARE.
A public meetin g of the inhabitants of St. George's,
Hanover-square, was held on Saturday night, at the
Hanover-square Rooms, for the purpose of deter-
mining on measures for the formation of a volunteer
rifle corps. The attendance, especially of persons
willing to become members f such a body, and be-
tween the ages of 18 and 45, was invited, and a large
number assembled. The room was well filled before
the hour named for commencing the proceedings,
eight o'clock, and was crowded when the chair was
taken.

Lieut.-Gen. Sir DE LACY EVANS, M.P., presided.
In opening the business the hon. and gallant chair-
man said he never felt more gratified in his life than
by the movement he now saw going on for the
establishment of some means of national defence in
the present extraordinary condition of affairs. He
would not occupy time by entering into details,
upon which other gentlemen would address them.
There was scarcely a part of the country where this
movement had not been taken up, and with great
intelligence and patriotic spirit. They could not
decide on all the details now. Parliament was about
to assemble, and the Government had indicated
their approval of the movement.— The first object
would be to promote the enrolment of those who
wera favourable to the object. With regard to
arms, he had no doubt that the weapon in use by
the general body of troops should be adopted by the
volunteer corps. The uniform, he conceived, ought
to be of the most economical description, in order
to enable as great a number as possible to assist.
(Hear.) All finery, gaiety, gold lace, and that sort
of thing, he thought would be out of place. That
was very much given up even in the regular army
of late. The Government circular left it open to
all persons between the ages of 18 and 45 to enter
these corps. He did not see why persons of more
than 45 should be excluded ; many men were
younger at 60 than others at 40, and every man
endowed with the high feeling of desiring to defend
his country should be,eligible. Probably some clerk
at the War-office had copied the circular from an
old form, and he hoped the Government would yet
be more liberal on that point. He did not think
the offer to supply the arms at first cost so liberal
as it might be, particularly as there was already a
body of volunteers called Yeomanry Cavalry, num-
bering about 14,000, to which a good deal more
assistance was given. That body generally con-
sisted of the tenantry and followers of the landed
gentry. He did not look upon it with the jealousy
that some people did, but seeing that Government
had been rather liberal to that corps, which, all
over the country, was ranged under the guidance
of the wealthy portion of society, some measure of
the same liberality ought to be extended to this
great. opular movement. (Cheers.) Each member
of the Yeomanry Corps received £3 a year for his
clothing, and in the last Army Estimates the
amount of charge for these 14,000 men was £BB,OOO.
The Yeomanry volunteer had also his arms pro-
vided free of cost, and pay for the period during
which in each year he was called out for exercise.
He hoped, therefore, to see some more effective
and decided assistance given to the present move-
ment. It seemed almost a mockery only to- offer
targets for practice and ammunition at first cost,
and looked like a reluctance to trust the people with
arms, or the power of familiarising themselves with
their use. (Hear.) This, however, was no party
movement, and it ought not to be a class concern.
He was not a supporter of the present Government,
bat he must admit they had gone further on this
question than their predecessors. He was one of
those who, when a movement of this character was
made a few years ago, endeavoured to support it in
the House of Commons, and it was then pooh-
poohed by the Government. The second circular
issued by the present Government was an improve-
ment on the first, which was encumbered with vari-
ous restrictions. His Opinion was that there had not
been so important and so menacing a conjuncture
as the present for the past half century. They knew
what occurrrd after the old French Revolution, and
there were indications that some persons and some
great powers had a notion of repeatiug the same
course of policy. (Hear.) But if those great military
Governments were innocent of all ambitious
views, they might not be always able to re-
strain their armies or their people. But this
volunteer rifle movement was one calculated
only for defence, and no foreign Government
could take umbrage - at it. He was much struck
by a speech made the other day by an eminent
and eloquent member of the House of Commons, of
whose commercial policy he had been a humble fol-
lower—he meant the member for Birmingham. That
hon. member had an unfortunate crotchet, which he
thought he had modified. His crotchet was, all the
world was peaceably disposed, and that it was non-
sense to take any means for the national defence.
He was himself a friend of peace, but he could not
imagine how those gentlemen who belonged to the
Peace Society could be so profoundly convinced of
the innocence of foreign powers. They locked their
doors every night to protect themselves from robbers,
but were there any greater robbers than those who
marched with great armies to overrun neighbouring
countries, anddictate to them what form of Go-
vernment they should adopt ? (Cheers). Mr.
Bright, in his speech the other day, of course dis-
approved of the regular army, the militia he thought
a nuisance, and the volunteer movement a perfect
farce. It was difficult to please gentlemen of that
kind, but he still hoped they would modify their
notions upon reconsidering the matter. He had long
seen the necessity of taking defensive measures.
They could not rely upon their rulers. The inten-
tions of Russia were made known to them two
years before the outbreak of the Crimean war, and
they neglected to make any preparations. When
at last they declared war, they accompanied it with
a proposal to add 10,000 men to the army. 10,000
men ! And that was their idea of what would be
required to go to war with one of the greatest mili-
tary Powers. (Hear.) Lord Macaulay, in one cf
his works, said Pitt, thoughthe greatest orator and
most powerful man of his day, only devoted the
dregs of his abilities to war affairs ; and that he was
affraid was the case with some men holding the
highest places now in both Houses of Parliament.
Europe was now in a state of war, and it was admitted
that there was a written understanding between,
France and Russia, the nature of which was con-
cealed, but they knew that Russia was moving five
army corps towards the German frontier. He could
not help thinking we were on the verge of the most
momentous struggle that had been seen in our time,
and it was on that account he felt so much gratifica-
tion at the present defensive movement. (Cheers.)
Sir HAMILTON SEYMOUR, late Amassador to St.
Petersburg and to Vienna, next addressed the meet-
ing. He said nothing but the great importance of

the ctisis as he viewed it would have impelled him
to break silence, or leave his obscurity to do that
for which he was little qualified. He agreed with
Sir De Lacy Evans, that if the signs of the times
merited credence, they stood on the brink of one of
the greatest crises the world had known in modern
times. The difficulty was increased by the confu-
sion that prevailed. If he saw peoples rising to
obtain liberties which had been withheld from them
he should understand it ; but when, he saw the
movement commenced by those from whom they had
not been accustomed to expect a great measure of
liberality it baffled comprehension. He. had no
doubt the more they exercised their judgment, and
the less they gave way to feeling at this time, the
better it would be. The object of this meeting
he believed to be perfectly legitimate. If
he passed the shops at night he saw them
guarded with iron shutters; in their own houses
they secured the door with good bolts and locks,
and policemen patrolled the streets. All he wished
was that they should take the same care for the
protection of this dear little island as they each
took for their own streets and dwellings. (Cheers.)
He was told by a great authority that if they
would sit quiet no harm would happen to them ;
but he should not regard that advice. He did not
think, with Mr. Bright, that the fact of carrying a
rifle upon their shoulders would make them quarrel-
some. He never walked without a stick, but it
never occurred to him to lay it about the shoulders
of the people he met. (A laugh.) They should
take a hint from the game 'preservers, who filled
their 'woods with spring guns and man traps, not
that they thirsted for the poacher's life, or even for
his leg, but to deter him from attempting to enter.
(Cheers.) If this had been a class movement he
should have not felt called upon to assist it. He
was 62 years old, and could not offer himself as a
very lively recruit, but he thought he could learn
the goose-step, and as he shot at the partridge in
September, he supposed he could shoot at a target,
or, if needs must be, at an invader. (Cheers.)
General Sir D. IVI'DouGALL said he had taken
great interest in this question since 1852, and had
constantly endeavoured to impress on the Govern-
ment the necessity of giving the people such an
organisation and training as would render it im-
possible fur the world combined to assail this
country with success. (Cheers.) He had had
considerable experience in organising young troops,
and was sent out to organise 15,000 militia in
Nova Scotia. Every man in Nova Scotia, from 18
to 45, was required to assemble for four days'
training, and in those four days they learnt to move
in brigade with troops of the line. They took a
pride in practising the use of their arms, and the
Militia Artillery were equal to the Royal Artillery,
and the infantry were excellent shots. He trusted
this would also be the case in England. (Cheers.)
General PRINGLE TAYLOR also spoke in support
of the object of the meeting.
Mr!OLLIvIER,-of Bond-street, who has taken an
active part in promoting the movement in St.
George's, said it was intended to apply to Govern-
ment for leave to exercise in the gardens of
Burlington-house, and it was hoped that an ar-
rangement would be made with the Victoria Rifle
Club to be allowed to exercise in ball practice at
their grounds at Kilburn. They intended to adopt
a simple uniform, of such a colour that the trowsers
might be worn as a part of their ordinary dress.
Their object would be not to make themselves lines-
men, but to learn to be good marksmen. Names
of persons willing to join would be taken down, and
it was intended to have an entrance fee of one
guinea, and an annual subscription of the same
amount. Those who gave their names would after-
; wards be called together to decide on all the details.
The formal proceedings closed with a vote of
thanks to the chairman, and a considerable num-
ber of persons then came to the tables provided for
the purpose of registering their names.