The Sun.
London, England, 1820-09-12 00:00:00

LEICESTERSHIRE MILITIA.

, .
The infamous attempts to delude the public
into, a belief that the, Leicestershire Militia had
framed an Address to the QUErN, and had trans-
mitted it to Alderman Woon, to present to her
MAJESTY, has been already detected, but is. so
fully eposed in the following • correSpondencei
that we feel it our duty to.present it to the public.
The clumsy endeavour of Mr. Alderman :Woon
to justify the fabrication, or rather. to escape front
it, places his character in such a point of view,
that all' who wish Well to the QUEEN must feel
additional regret that she is not able to rescue
herself from the lamentable guidance of so in.:
competent a Director. •
I,eicester, August 27.
R,—As Lieutenant-Colonel of the Leicester Regiment of
Militia, I request the favotir of you to send we the name's ul.
the two individoali whose signatures were to the Address,
purl-wiling to he the Address of the Privates of that Regi-
ment to the-Queen, and also to mention front widmi you re-
ceived it, and by Whom it was preientt;d. I ask -these ques-
tions as it appears that thi privates of .thy-Regiment never
even heard of the Address during the time they were embo-
died, and Lohserve it-bears date three days previous to their
dismissal.

I have the honour to be, &c;
To AWerman Wood, M. P. &v. . AI. HULSE.

Lnndon, August 30.

tint—T am honoured with your letter of the e6th, request-
ing me to send you the names of the two individuals whose
signatures were to the Address lately sent to me, purporting
to be an Address from the Privates of the Regiment under
your command, alsii to mention from WhoM I received it, and
by .wbonLit was presented; and I should undoubtedly at once
give you the information desired, were I not induced to infer,
from the particularity and frame of your questioning, that
the Address is considered by the Commandants of the Leices-
ter Militia, of an improper character; and that some pro-
ceedings, may he in contemplation against the individuals of
the Regiment, by whom the Address was signed. Your
omitting to assign the ultimate object of the inquiry, forti-
&sane in this supposition; and I should not, therefore, feel
myself at liberty to send you the names of the parties. without
their previous concurrence, unless it appeared that the Ad-
dress was not iotended by the Private• of the Regiment
to have been presented to her Majesty. If the Address;
purporting to be an Address from the Privates of your Regi-
ment, was not in truth, authorised by them, I shall not-he
found backward in exposing"the deception ; but, shall be most
anxious to give you..all the -.information in my power. For
the present, however, I must decline doing more titan refer-
ring yOO to the Strjeant•MajOr' who I am informed, was dis-
patchyd hy.the-t)flicers of tilt Itegiment to repress the shouts
of the privates of tile Leicester Militia in favour of her Ma-
jesty ; from whom I should apprehend you will be able to
obtain much jmore satisfactory information than it is in my
power tozive.
-remain, Sir, your obedient Servant,
• (Sigted)• MATTHEW WOOD.
To LieutoColonel Hulse. •

Arlington-Street, sth Sept. 182.
a—Having seen two letters .which, hart recently been ex-
changed bet weeti yourself and the Lieut.-Colonel of the Lei-
cestershire Regiment of Militia, I feel it incumbent upon rue,
as its Cdonel, to inform you, that theilgestions..put.to you by
Col.- Hulse wife not asked with any view of proceeding against
the se men' whom you, aught name, .as [raving signed the Ad-
tiress to the Queen, purporting to be from the Privates of that
Regiment. I ant not aware of any proceedings that could he
instituted against them : certainly not,-after it has been satis-
hictotily ascertained that the two , names, which .it is, under-
stood were alone subscribed, to the Address, were affixed • to it
without the knowledge of the men 'themselyes, by-indivb-
duals not belonging to the Corps. An instance of such pal-
pable fabrication is scarcity on record, aid the detection of
it was due to the insulted honour and military-character of
the Regiment; and since it was evident, either that the per-
son to whim the' supposititious Address was transmitted bad
been egregiously duped, or that her Majesty, to whom it
was presented, had been shamefully imposed upon., Lieut.-
Col. Hulse felt himself called'upon to afford you the opportu-
nity which 1 now again offer, of assisting' in the exposure of
the transaction.
Observe that your letter alludes to the reported shouts of
the men in favour of her 'Majesty, upon -the dishanding'of
the Regiment. I transmit to you the copy of a letter, which,
uPon, that particular point, I have received from my Quarter
master,'-ia which the real circumstances that occurred upon
that occasion are fully detailed. It is right that. I should add,
that ill-designing persons are at this moment -making the
Most active exertions to entrap some of the privates into a
late avowal of their sanction of the address, in the teeth of
the positive disavowal which was
,fully and 'decisively giVen
few days since by 420 Privates, to the non-cmmuissioned
Officers WhO went round fur the purpose, of ascertaining the
real state of the case, and who, from accidental circurn-
s4nces, were unable to see the remainder of the.men.
I bate the honour, &c..
(Signed) . RUTLAND.
Colonel Leicestershire Regiment.
To ,Alderman Wood..

Leicester. Sept. 3, 1820.
Mi LORD nUtiß.—l beg leave to acktiowtedge the receipt
of your Glace's letter of the Ist inst. and hist no time in
seeing the Serjeant Major, and again inviting from hint the
partiFulart of what took place in the drill-odd the evening

hefot e The di'Landed• It was he Cl3l"ntt dm'
ing he period of training, ."- .1' wen to Hi in at their
-Tanks' private parade, both morwing ifit-ererting, when they
,were marched by their respective Non-commissioned Officers
to the drill-field,
- —The compages had marched to different parts faille field,
ambt he orders had been read. to them, 'when the tierjeant-
Major called for the Serjrants to collect their reports; during
this time four trr five men in plain clothes joined in couversa-
, tion With sonic of the Grenadiers and No. I Co,upany. On s.
of. them arid, come my lads, give us three lilteers, for the
Qnetti (and sr r!, wire) When i'v) of the Grenadiers and oh
of Number I Company pulled off their caps and cheered, and
not more Otto eight or nine seemeJ to take any notice of it.
On seeing this he immediately felt them in, and the towns-
'men skulked away. Shortly afterwards I arrived, when the
SedeantrMajor reported to me what had occurred. 1 blinued
him for not ascertaining their names and residence,
. .

Alderman Wood must have been misinformed respecting
the Scrjeant Major being sent by the (Wirers to,repress etfe
shouts of the men, -as there were no Officers present. The
Adjutant and myself only' attended the drill (and he was din-
ing out that day) Colonel Hulse thinking the men would come
on much faster under the Serjcants, till they became pet feet
with the.tia-.lt:cle. The day the Regiment was disbanded there
was 110 parade except by companies to give in their arms and
accoutrements at the magazine. I commenced taking them
in at six o'clock in the intoning, two companies attending
every hour,' till the whole was received, and no men could
conduct themselves more properly than they did during the
time I was recei►•ing. them.

I have helm e stated to your Grace—that the men were
marched from their private parades, morning and evening, to
the drill-field under the serjcants; twelve o'chick the
whole Regiment
,assembled in the mai ket-place, when the
Officers of course inspected, and took post.. .with their com-
panies.
Thu Leicester Chrerniele of thii week having stated a deal
more than is true, I have taken this liberty of forwai ding one
for your Graces perusal, and an, very sorry to see that any
of our men have hecoine the dupes of 'a set of designing
men, and with the exception of Lilley, Newton, and Brookes,
and perhaps son►e few others, I am confident the privates
knew noth►ng of any such thing as an Address.
I have the honour, &c.
J. DEAKINS, Quarter naster L. M.

I.eics!cr,Sept. 3, 1820

. .
We, the undersigned Ni,n-CominiisionedOtlicers of the Lei•
cestershire Regiment of Militia, do hereby declare, that dur-
ing the late training ot the Regiment, we never at any time
heard of an intention on the part of the Privates to presetit
an Address to the Q,keen, and that since an Address has been
presented to her Majesty on their behalf, we have seen the
tacit resident in Leicester, and the different. villages aromid
in lice County, to the number of 420, all of Whom positively
disavowed• any knowledge of such Address, or that the same
was ever seen, heard, or re-1 by them, or ever gave any sanc-
tion thereto; and we further declare that if an Address had
been in'contemplation during the training, the same must
have come to our linowledge.
[Here follow the signatnres.l
Brandenburgh House, Sept. 7, I S•2O.

MY, LORD—In answer to your letter of the sth inst. I have
first to observe, on the extraordinary circumstances, that au
Address from the Pt irates of a Regiment to their lawful and
persecuted Queen, 'should be deemed hy.their Colonel au in-
sult to the honours of the Re. iment, This idea, if it have no
other merit, has at least that of novelty. The soldier does
indeed assume this military garh, hut 'in cheerbilly perform-
ing this part of the duty of a good subject, he 00es not for-
feit his civil rights, much less does be forfeit the right of ex-
ercising his judgment, and of- acting agi eeable to his feelingi
as a man.' •

That the men had a right to express their attachment to
her Majesty, their abhorrence of the treatment that she
hail experienced, I know fall well. I ant convinced tbst the
Address contained the real sentiments of this regiment. Arid
I know that it was agreeable t 9 her Majesty to receive the
same.
tVi to the inquiries laid to have been made of the men in-
dividnally, and reported by the, Seijeant-Major„Adjutant and
Quarter Master, I am too well acquainted with the nature of
the powers of such persons over the men, to pay the smallest
attention to such reports.
The account which you are pleased •to give me of its de-
signing persons even now engaged to entrap some of the.
Privates into an avowal of the Address, induces me to inform
your Lordship, that I have this morning received an Address
signed by three hundred of the Privates, accompanied with a
letter, stating, that a much larger number would have signed
it, if they could have obtained the Address at their residence.
By one refleeti,m, however, I am consoled, and that is, that
the Private Soldier has at last come to.-be considered as a
being whose feelings and wishes are worthy of attention.
I hare the. honour to he, &c.
MATITIEW WOOD.
To his Grace the Duke of Rutland. '

Arlington-street, Sept. 9, 1520.
have to acknowledg,e t be receipt of yOur letter of the
7th instant. It ith respect to the Address which you state
yourself to have received on that day, signed by 300 privates
of the Leicestershire Regiment of Militia (which Regiment it
should he remit ked, has been disembodied - more than six
weeks,) it is singular that it should have been thought neces-
sary to obtain additional signatures to an Address, which three
weeks since you published to the world as having proceeded
from the whole of the privates of the Regiment. It is impossible
that a more striking presumption' can be atiordod to the Pub-
lic, of the truth of the charge of gross aint infamous impo-
sition and forgery, which attaches to the Address _presented
by you to her Majesty on the 17th of August, than the facts
that the Address which purports to be from The Privates
of the Leicestershire Regiment" had, according to your own
admission, only two names subscribed, and than except by the
two persons whose names-were so subscribed the Address had
never been seen or heard of. As to the additional signa-
tures, to which . you appear to attach so much importance,
I will only transcribe a sentence in the letter which I yes-
terday received from my Adjutant; dated on the. 6th inst.—
" I have this morning been informed, that an Address to the
queen, with upwards of 200 signatures, was yesterday tOr-
warded., hut I have im doubt, were it possible to see the list
of the names, it would be found that many are down who
never did belong to tile Regiment, iNthers are affixed wi4b the
decided dissent of the parties, and some have been obtained'
by false representations. There is nothing in the remaining
parts of_ your letter which appears to me to require any com-
ment or reply.
I have the honour to be,
Sir, your obedient humble servant,'
(Signed) . RUTLAND,
Colonel, Leicestershire Regiment.