ment on other points. It would be the meeting’s own fault if they did not besiege parliament with memorials and petitions. He could not see why the Mayor or the Magistrates, or the town Council should not be allowed to put the Rifle Corps in a position by which they could defend the lives and protect the property of the inhabitants of sea-coast towns in which they lived. Mr. Ransom’s proposition to appoint a provisional committee was then adopted. Sir R. V. Arbuthnot thought they might order twenty or thirty rifles at once, some of which might be purchased by members for private use. Mr. J. Rock advised the same, as the manufacturers were then very busy, and the orders might not get executed for some time. He therefore approved of the suggestion, and to forward the object he would be willing to provide one in addition to his own. He looked upon the circular as embodying the greatest concession that the Government could make, they being tied down by an Act of George III. The lists were then handed round, and nearly fifty enrolled their names. Subscriptions were also promised to the extent of £100, in ten guineas each from the Borough Members (F. North and Lord Harry Vane) and five guineas each from V. B. Crake, J. Rock, jun., W. B. Young, E. Vernon Harcourt, G. H. M. Wagner, and Edmund Field. – At a meeting on the 27th of May, in the same year, the rules were considered, patterns of uniforms submitted, and £120 subscribed towards the outfit for such as could not afford to purchase it. Communications were opened with the Lord Warden, mainly by Mr. W. Ransom, who performed the duties of Hon. Sec., and on the 22nd of July it was resolved at a special general meeting “That the Rifle Club offer itself through the Lord Warden for enrolment as a corps under the conditions named in the circular of the 13th of July”. The conditions included a drill in twenty-four days in the year, with liability to be called out during any invasion, and every member to take the oath of allegiance. Effective members were to be exempt from other military services, and when assembled for active service, two guineas to be allowed each man and pay, as in other forces. Non-commissioned officers and privates disabled in service to be elligible(sic) for Chelsea Hospital, and widows of officers killed to receive a pension for life. The movement soon spread to other places, and on the 12th of September, a meeting of deputies from the Cinque Ports Rifle Companies -
