permanent staff; except that, when a court-martial is necessary, it shall be convened by one of her Majesty's principal secretaries of state, instead of the convening officer under the Mutiny Act. A general court-martial is to consist of not less than nine, and district courts-martial of not less than five members, who are to be such officers of the volunteer permanent staff as the secretary of state shall direct; except the president, who shall be a field officer of volunteers. Sentences of district courtsmartial are to be confirmed by one of her Majesty's principal secretaries of state, who, in all such cases, is to have the same powers as the secretary for war, or the officer confirming the sentence of a courtmartial, possesses under the Mutiny Act. Such secretary, when a court-martial is ordered for the trial of a non-commissioned officer of the permanent staff, may issue his warrant for the apprehension and committal to prison of such non-commissioned officer; and the keeper of any prison to which he is committed, must receive and keep him in safe custody, or be liable to a fine not exceeding £100. -Sec. 23. When any volunteer corps is on actual military service, the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates, are to be subject to the provisions of the Mutiny Act.

PART IV.-Rules and Property of Corps.-Sec. 24. The members of a volunteer corps may make rules for the management of the property, finances, and civil affairs of such corps, subject to the approval of the sovereign.-Sec. 25. All the property of a corps is vested in the commanding officer, ex officio; who can sue, make contracts and conveyances, and do all other lawful things relating thereto.-Sec. 26. Commanding officers are (subject to the approval of the lieutenants of the county) to appoint storehouses for the receipt of arms, ammunition, and stores, which are to be free from all county, parochial, or other local rates or assessments.-Sec. 27. Subscriptions and fines due, and not paid by volunteers, may be recovered, with costs, at any time within twelve months after the same become due or payable.-Sec. 28. If any person in any way make away with anything issued to him as a volunteer, the value and costs may be recovered from him; and he shall also be subject to a penalty not exceeding £5.-Sec. 29. Persons knowingly buying, or taking in exchange, from a volunteer, arms, clothing, or other property belonging to the public or to the corps, to be liable to a fine not exceeding £20 for a first offence; and for every subsequent offence, to a fine of not less than £5, nor exceeding £20, and to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for a term not exceeding six calendar months.-Sec. 30. Persons wilfully injuring butts or targets, to be liable, on the prosecution of the commanding officer, to a penalty not exceeding £5.

PART V.-Acquisition of Land for Ranges.-Sec. 31. Subject to the provisions of this part of the Act, any volunteer corps may, with the assent of one of her Majesty's principal secretaries of state, purchase, lease, or otherwise acquire land for rifle or artillery practice.-Sec. 32. So much of the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845 [8 & 9 Vict., c. 18], and of the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, Scotland [8 & 9 Vict., c. 19], and of any Act amending the said Acts, as relates to the purchase of land by agreement, is incorporated with this part of this Act.-Sec. 33. Land or copyholders may give any quantity of land, not exceeding four acres, for the purposes of this Act; provided that, when it ceases to be used for such purposes, it reverts to the estate of which it previously formed a part.-Sec. 34. The Commissioner of Works may grant the use, for the purposes of rifle practice or drill, and for a term not exceeding twenty-one years, of any portion of the royal parks, gardens, or possessions which are under his management.-Sec. 35. The Commissioners of her Majesty's Woods, Forests, and Land Revenues, with the consent of the Lords of the Treasury, the Chancellor and Council of the Duchy of Lancaster, and the Duke of Cornwall, or the other persons who have power, for the time being, to dispose of the lands of the duchy, may also issue licences to volunteer corps, to use for military purposes, any part of the lands in their hands, not exceeding four acres, and for a term not exceeding twenty-one years; such licences absolutely to cease when the land is no longer so used.-Sec. 36. Gives power to corporations, lay or ecclesiastical, trustees, justices of the peace, &c., to issue licences to volunteers, for the use of land, in quantity not exceeding four acres, and for a term not exceeding twenty-one years.-Sec. 37. Where a footpath crosses or runs inconveniently or dangerously near to any land acquired by purchase or licence, for the purposes of this Act, justices of the peace may crder it to be diverted or stopped up; the proceedings to be taken in conformity with the Act "to corsolidate and amend the laws relating to highways, in that part of Great Britain called England" [5 & 6 Wm. IV., c. 50].—Sec. 38. One of the principal secretaries of state may make bye-laws for the regulation of shooting on grounds acquired under this Act, and for the prevention of intrusion thereon during the time of shooting, imposing a pecuniary penalty, not exceeding £5, for any breach of such bye-laws.-Sec. 39. Any land purchased, or otherwise acquired, under this part of the Act, which has not been used by the corps possessing it for one year, shall be deemed to have ceased to be used for military purposes.-Sec. 40. This part of the Act is not to extend to the Isle of Man, except that the Commissioners of Woods and Forests and Land Revenues may grant licences for any land allotted to, or that may be purchased on behalf of, her Majesty, under "The Isle of Man Disafforesting Act, 1860.”

PART VI.-Exemptions.-Sec. 41. Members of volunteer corps are exempted from liability to serve in the militia.-Sec. 42. Horses used for military service not to be subject to the horse-duty.-Sec. 43. If any commanding officer of a volunteer corps or administrative regiment, knowingly gives a false certificate to exempt from payment of taxes or tolls under this Act, he is to be liable, for every such offence, to a penalty not exceeding £200.-Sec. 44. Persons enrolled as volunteers are not to lose any interest previously acquired in friendly or benefit societies, notwithstanding anything in the rules of those institutions.-Sec. 45. Volunteers on duty, and any horse, cart, or waggon, used for bonâ fide military purposes, not to be subject to toll at any pier, wharf, quay, landing-place, bridge, or turnpike-gate.

PART VII.-Miscellaneous Provisions.-Sec. 46. Lieutenants of counties may require to be made to them, from time to time, by the commanding officers of volunteer corps, returns of such corps' strength and efficiency.-Sec. 47. Clerks of general meetings of lieutenancy in Great Britain, shall be entitled,

for their services, to the sums named in the schedule to the Act.-Dec. 48. Pecuniary penalties under this Act may be summarily recovered, in England, before two or more justices of the peace, under the Act "to facilitate the performance of the duties of justices of the peace out of session" [11 & 12 Vict., c. 43]; in Scotland, under the Railway Clauses Consolidation Act [8 & 9 Vict., c. 33]; and, in the Isle of Man, by proceedings in any court of competent jurisdiction.-Sec. 49. Explains the meaning of terms used in the Act; and applies its provisions to any officer appointed by her Majesty on the permanent staff of a volunteer corps, as quarter or paymaster, or in any other capacity than adjutant or sergeant-instructor.-Sec. 50. For the purposes of this Act, the Isle of Wight, the Cinque Ports-every riding, stewartry, city, or place for which her Majesty constitutes a lieutenant-and the Isle of Man, are to be deemed counties of themselves.-Sec 51. The enactments described in the schedule to the Act are repealed.-Sec. 52, Nothing in the Act shall apply to the Hon. Artillery Company of London.— Sec. 53. The Act shall not extend to Ireland.

The following is the oath required to be taken by every member of a volunteer corps. The name of the successor of Queen Victoria, to be substituted for her's, whenever, unfortunately, we lose her Majesty :

"I, A. B., do sincerely promise and swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to her Majesty Queen Victoria; and that I will faithfully serve her Majesty in Great Britain, for the defence of the same, against all her enemies and opposers whatsoever, according to the conditions of my service."

The following fees are allowed to clerks of general meetings of lieutenancy, for trouble in executing the duty required of them, including copyings, correspondence, and stationery :

For convening and attending every general meeting summoned by dis

1 1 0

tinct order of the secretary of state.

For printing, advertising, and postage, the actual expense,

The following enactments are repealed :

50 Geo. III., c. 25, sec. 3; 53 Geo. III., c. 81, sec. 4:-23 & 24 Vict., c. 140; 24 & 25 Vict., c. 126; 25 & 26 Vict., c. 41, the whole :-44 Geo. III., c. 54 & 59; 46 Geo. III., c. 125 & 140; 6 Geo. III., c. 39; 57 Geo. III., c. 44; 7 Geo. IV., c. 58, and 23 & 24 Vict, c. 13, so far as the Acts relate to the volunteers of Great Britain.

Now to return to our history.

The meeting of the National Rifle Association was postponed, this year, from the 27th of February to the 4th of March.-On the 25th of the former month, the West of Scotland Rifle Association met at Glasgow, and the report then read gave a very favourable account of the volunteers of that part of the United Kingdom. It was the first annual meeting of the Association, which had succeeded in establishing a prize shooting-match for Lanarkshire and the adjoining counties, providing targets, and other essentials; and the plan adopted to defray the expenses appearing judicious, and likely to succeed with other associations, we subjoin it :-The targets, and all permanent stock, are paid for from the subscriptions of life members. The first prizes are obtained, as far as possible, from donors; whilst the subsidiary prizes are arranged on a scale likely to be met by the fees paid on entry by the competitors; and the general expenses are provided for by the annual contributions of members, the fees paid on admission to the grounds, and for pool-shooting. This plan succeeded well in 1862;

leaving the treasurer, after every expense was paid, with a small balance in hand.-The Edinburgh and Mid-Lothian Rifle Association, on the other side of Scotland, has also been very active in encouraging the volunteer spirit, and in stimulating the members of volunteer corps to frequent practice with the rifle, in the use of which the Scotch vie with their English brethren, having become excellent marksmen,

On the 4th of March, the annual general meeting of the National Rifle Association was held at Willis's Rooms, St. James's, Field-marshal the Duke of Cambridge, K.G., the president, in the chair. His royal highness was surrounded by most of the members of the council, and many volunteer officers; and the body of the room was filled by the members of the Association. The chairman addressed the meeting very frankly upon the past and the future of the institution. It had been successful, and had effected great good; but, his royal highness said, the number of subscribers had not increased so largely as was hoped and expected. Altogether, there were about 1,000 names on the list-a very limited support for such an excellent national society. He stated the terms of admission, and the privileges of membership, in order to induce volunteer officers to join; and added, that twelve colonial associations were in direct communication with the National Association: there were twenty-eight county associations similarly circumstanced; making, in all, forty affiliated to that organisation. His royal highness referred, with great pleasure, to the announcement, that the Prince of Wales had become the patron of the Association-a circumstance which must be of great advantage to the movement; the compliment being valuable, not alone on account of the exalted position of his royal highness, but as a proof that the feelings and impulses of the country in which this movement originated, were responded to in the highest quarters of the state. His royal highness then alluded to the discussion which had taken place last year, as to the conditions on which the Queen's prize ought to be shot for; and said, her majesty naturally felt most desirous that the rules and regulations, which were laid down originally by her late most illustrious consort, should not be infringed upon. His royal highness hoped the knowledge of that fact would render any further discussion upon that question unnecessary.

It appeared, from the report, that the state of the funds, notwithstanding the comparative paucity of members, was favourable, there being a balance at the bankers, of £1,308; and upwards of £2,500 were invested in the funds: making a total of £3,859.-There was a long discussion with respect to the merits of the Enfield rifle, the use of which several speakers thought the council discouraged. A motion was made by Captain Temple, to sanction the handicapping of small-bores with long government Enfield rifles; but he withdrew it on Lord Elcho stating that the council had passed the following resolution :-"That the principle of weighting the small-bores, so as to equalise the shooting with the regulation long Enfield, be adopted; but that the extent to which this principle is to be applied, both as regards the number of prizes and marks, be agreed to at a future meeting."-In the course of the discussion, the Duke of Cambridge reminded the meeting of the economic question. If it were decided that it was desirable to have a more accurate rifle, the whole of the army and volunteers must be at once armed with it, and the nation must dip its hands somewhat deeply in its pockets. As a military man, he was perfectly satisfied with the Enfield. No country in the world, he believed, had so good a weapon; and all we required was,

relative superiority, not absolute perfection. He thought, with respect to the Association, if the council were to bring the Enfield more prominently forward, it would be good for its finances; it would cause the money to flow rapidly in.

On the motion of Lord Elcho, the Duke of Cambridge was, by acclamation, requested to again accept the office of president. His royal highness consented; and the vacancies in the council being filled up, the meeting adjourned to the 15th of May.

The volunteers, in all parts of the country, held field-days on the 14th of March, in honour of the marriage of the Prince of Wales to the Princess Alexandra of Denmark: those of the metropolis and neighbourhood not only assembled on that day, but had a special "gathering" on the 7th, to receive her royal highness on the day of her arrival in England, when she passed through London on her way to Windsor; and they were then joined by contingents from twelve distant counties. On that occasion, full 20,000 men were under arms in the city and in Hyde Park; in the former, to assist in keeping order; in the latter, to do honour, by their attendance, to the heir-presumptive and his affianced bride. The London corps, who were on duty in the city, about 3,000 in number, had an arduous task to perform, so overwhelming were the surges of the dense crowd which had assembled to welcome the princess; and the admirable temper they kept, and the soldier-like steadiness which they observed, were beyond all praise. The crowd was so far beyond anything before seen in the city, that confusion unavoidably ensued when the royal cortége, having crossed London-bridge, was passing from King William-street, in front of the Mansion-house, to the Poultry and Cheapside. The police commissioner, Captain Hodgson, attempted to throw the blame for this confusion on the volunteers; but there does not appear to have been the least ground for the charge.

In Hyde Park, 272 mounted volunteers, two field-pieces (each of four 18-pounder guns of position), and near forty battalions of infantry from Middlesex, Surrey, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Kent, Oxfordshire, Sussex, Warwickshire, and Wiltshire, were assembled. The total number of all ranks-exclusive of the general in command and his staff, and of the brigadiers and their staffs-was 17,007. These troops were arranged so as to keep the ground from the Achilles statue, opposite the Hyde Park-corner entrance, to the Marble Arch, opposite the Edgeware-road; and they presented a most imposing spectacle, Major-general R. Rumley took the chief command; Major the Duke of Manchester commanded the cavalry; Lieutenant-colonel Creed the artillery; and the infantry was divided into eight brigades, commanded, respectively, by Lieutenant-colonels Hume, Lord Ranelagh, Bigge, Lord Elcho, Earl Grosvenor, the Marquis of Donegal, Walker, and Brewster, When the royal carriages entered the park, there was a little confusion in one part of the line-some men pushing forward in their anxiety to see the princess; but it was soon suppressed; and few sights could be more impressive than that which the park presented when the 17,000 men saluted the prince and princess-their bands playing "God Save the Queen," and the Danish National Hymn. Rain fell heavily just as the royal cortége emerged from the park; and the troops, in consequence, immediately marched home, or to the station where they took the railway trains. There was no delay or obstruction; and, notwithstanding its abrupt termination, the

day, in the words of an officer of the Victoria Rifles, was one which will ever be memorable in the annals of the volunteer force;" as it will be in the memories of the inhabitants of the metropolis,

The Easter Monday meeting of the metropolitan volunteers again took place at Brighton. Two meetings of the commanding officers were held, on the 3rd and 17th of February, at the Volunteer Service Club, established in St. James's-street, for the purpose of organising a field-day for that holiday, and determining where it should take place. A sub-committee was appointed on the 3rd, to examine the aptitude of Sandhurst, Epsom, Aldershot, and Brighton; and the decision was in favour of the latter place, The number of men of all ranks who assembled on the occasion, was 14,625; and the corps that took part in the fete, were the Hon. Artillery Company, and thirteen corps of artillery from London, the counties of Middlesex, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire, and the Cinque Ports; the Hants Light Horse; three corps of engineers, from the city of London, the Tower Hamlets, and the county of Middlesex; and 112 corps of infantry-of which four were from London, six from the Tower Hamlets, thirty-two from Middlesex, seventeen from Surrey, seventeen from Sussex, two from Essex, twelve from Kent, one from the Cinque Ports, fourteen from Hampshire, and seven from the Isle of Wight. Major-general Lord William Paulett, C.B., took the command-in-chief; Captain Bower commanded the single corps of cavalry; and Colonel Ormsby the artillery, The infantry corps were arranged in two divisions: the 1st contained five brigades, commanded by Lieutenant-colonels Thorold, Lord Bury, Lord Ranelagh, Bigge, and Brewster: there were four brigades in the 2nd division, commanded by Lieutenant-colonels Lord Radstock, Dunsmure, Moorsom, and Lord Elcho. The various metropolitan corps assembled at their respective head-quarters at an hour which permitted them to reach Brighton by ten o'clock on Easter Monday, the 6th of April. Most of the corps from the country arrived on the Saturday and Sunday previous. The morning of Monday was very unfavourable; but the troops had all arrived by eleven o'clock, and formed their brigades on the level, in the most regular manner. From that time the weather improved, being, for the remainder of the day, most enjoyable, and admirably fitted for the purposes of the review. Early in the forenoon, the visitors and the townspeople had thronged to the race-course in great numbers; and the ground, except the part kept for the volunteers, was completely covered with carriages, horsemen, horsewomen, and pedestrians, when Lord William Paulett took his place on the grand stand. The troops marched past the stand in columns, the cavalry and guns of position taking the lead; and then commenced their evolutions—which included a sham fight. All the movements were gone through with great precision; "the skirmishing of the infantry was particularly good, the firing being well sustained, and the general movements performed in a very soldier-like manner." This was the opinion of the general commanding-in-chief; who added— "From my observations during the evolutions, I cannot conclude my report without stating, that I consider the volunteer force a most valuable institution, in a defensive point of view, for the country." His royal highness the Duke of Cambridge, and the secretary at war, both expressed the satisfaction with which they had received the favourable report of Lord William Paulett. It was almost one of the first official acts Volunteer Service Gazette.

+ Lord William Paulett's Report to the Commander-in-chief.