SIR ROBERT PEEL ON THE VOLUNTEERS.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 4, Issue 199, 12 July 1860, Page 3

SIR ROBERT PEEL ON THE VOLUNTEERS.

. The right hon, gentleman the Minister for War said he would not tike a vote this year for that old established force, the yeomanry, though he was obliged to take £68,000 for the purpose of adjutants ?v forage, and so on ; but let the House considerPliat these volunteer corps would cost the country ten times more than £68,000; (Hear, •hear.)- Here was a lot of country attorneys, arid easy going provincials costing -the country, a great-deal of money, With a loose wav p f, clri 11, as he had no doubt it was. (Laughter.) 1 ' He had the utmost contempt for that, for lie liked smart ness in a soldier. (Hear, hear.) In 1804, when the volunteer corps were enrolled, they cost the country £1,000,000; and Mr. Pitt obtained soon afterwards £500,000 more for them. Let the House take care that the same thing did not occur now; for if support were given to these volunteer corps, the Houseduight find they were costing the country a great'deal more money "than they were worths (Laughter.) It. was no doubt very fine' to' see those gallant young men coming forward, if there Were dauger—(Laughter)— but tliere was no danger now. lie met the other day a young friend of his who told him he had joined the rifles. “' You a volunteer rifleman ! You are too fat; for such a service”—(laughter)—lie (.Sir R.'Peel) observed. “ Not at all,” answered his friend, “ it is capital fun.” He had been to Switzerland, where he had seen the gallant vlouhteers creeping through the hedges oiftheir bellies for miles, and others spending their nights in the. trees. (Laughter.) “ But,” said , his young friend “ it is such capital fun. P will 'tell you how we spend our time. After parade in the, morning we go to luncheon ; then, you know, we have an annual ball; where we have-a great number .of ladies:” . In. fact, the conviviality that was going on amongst those gentlemen* Was quite unsuited to the rigid platitudes of the army. What folly! If there Were any; danger of war why did they not increase the r anfiy and navy ? Schools were turned to • sttange purposes now-a days, ancl he was not surprised that a rifle meeting had been held in Si.' Peter’s School, Pimlico. One of the speakers, waxing very] eloquent indeed,' declared that lie hoped to see the day wheii r! every man in England, like Hie Swiss; Would have a rifle hung up behind liishloor. "‘‘(Cheers.) No, doubt, there were a great‘many rifle men in Switzerland, blit those who cheered shouldj recollect that we paid upwards of 30,000,000 1 for our army and navyi - For his own part, j he should like to see the 'stalwart youth of

England turning their attention to some legitimate and useful pursuit, instead of hankering after firearms and knickerbockers* (Laughter) But the climax was still to come. At the same time in Pimlico a Mr. Denman informed his auditors that in 1797 a body of 1400 French troops landed in Pembrokeshire, but were immediately dispersed by the red petticoats of' the Welsh women seen on a distant hill. (A laugh.) He must say that Mr. Denman did not offer a very flattering suggestion to the gallant Pimlico Fencibles. (A laugh.) “ But,” continued the orator, “ Mr. Fox declared that England did not recover from the- effects of that descent for twenty years.” (Laughter.) It was certainly high time to “ show up,” meetings at which such speeches were made. Perhaps the Committee would derive a little amuse ment from the names of some of the rifle corps. The leaders of the movement, judging from their absurd nomenclature, seemed to have gone mad. (A laugh.) It was a fact. Certain gentlemen, who had evidently been reading Carlyle’s “Life of Frederick the Great,” were advertising daily on behalf of a corps, to be called the Six-Foot Guards. (A laugh.) There were corps composed of the stokers and pokers of the railways. He had already mentioned the Pimlico Fencibles, but what did the Committee think of the Westminster Volunteers of St. John the Evangelist ? (Laughter.) What St. John the Evangelist had to do with rifle corps he could not for the life of him understand. It was really too bad that so venerable a name shouid be associated with a band of idle striplings playing at soldiers. (A laugh.) There was the Volunteer Corps of the Aldermen and Corporation of London, and last, but not least, there was the rifle corps of the Inns of Court. He admired the patriotism of lawyers, but nothing could well be more absurd than the idea of a lot of barristers from the Inns of Court meeting the cuirassiers of the Imperial Guard in deadly conflict. (Laughter.)

These gentlemen leaving the study of Coke and Blackstone, Were devoting their days aud nights to Plutarch’s Lives, Cassar’s Commentaries, and the Rifle, How to use it. (Continued laughter.) How heavy lawyers expected to be able to crawl along the hedges upon their bellies and climb up trees he could not comprehend—(a laugh)—and he hoped they would not be very much offended if he applied to them the somewhat apt quotation, “In medio tutissimus ibis,” which, being literally translated, meant, You are are a good deal safer in the Middle Temple. (Great laughter.) It appeared that some of the rifle men had attained great proficiency in shooting. At Hythe the first prize was carried off by a genuine Cockney. (A laugh.) Upon being asked how he had acquired his extraordinary skill and precision, ‘Oil ! ’ said he, ‘ I live in London, and have had considerable practice in shooting at the cats of my Brompton neighbours.’ (Laughter.) It was not, per haps, of much consequence in the depth of winter, but no man could tell what a scene London would present at the height of the season. Everybody would be shooting at his neighbour’s cat —(great laughter.)—and there would be no end to the inhuman massacre of the feline tribe. (Prolonged laughter.) He trusted, however, that before that time a stop would be put to the volunteer movement.