"The conditions on which Her Majesty's Government will recommend to Her Majesty the acceptance of any proposal are:-- "That the formation of the corps be recommended by the lord lieutenant of the county. "That the corps be subject to the provisions of the Act already quoted. "That its members undertake to provide their own arms and equipments, and to defray all expenses attending the corps, except in the event of its being assembled for actual service. "That the rules and regulations which may be thought necessary, be submitted to me in accordance with the 56th section of the Act. "The uniform and equipments of the corps may be settled by the members, subject to your approval; but the arms, though provided at the expense of the members, must be furnished under the superintendence, and according to the regulations of this department, in order to secure a perfect uniformity of gauge. "The establishment of officers and non-commissioned officers will be fixed by me, and recorded in the books of this office; and in order that I may be enabled to determine the proportion, you will be pleased to specify the precise number of private men which you will recommend, and into how many companies you propose to divide them. "I have only to add that I shall look to you, as Her Majesty's Lieutenant, for the nomination of proper persons to be appointed officers, subject to the Queen's approval. "I have the honour to be, &c., Your most obedient Servant, J. Peel. "_To Her Majesty's Lieutenant for the County of ----._" Much less could not have been offered, or regulations made by which an useful force to be relied on in the event of invasion might turn out to be worthless. Members were to find their own arms, only the gauge to be equal, smooth bores or rifles; equipments, uniform, and quantity of drill to be at discretion of members, and all rules and regulations to be left to the decision of each lord lieutenant of a county, thereby certainly ensuring a variety of systems. Out of such confusion it is wonderful that the present disciplined and reliable force has come; and it speaks well for a nation, with such encouragement as is showed by this letter to the lord lieutenants of counties, that the volunteers held their own so long, and did not throw up in disgust. The battalion of volunteers to which I was attached as adjutant on its first formation in 1861, and whose history I have been invited to write by the officer now in command, Lieut.-Colonel the Earl Pembroke and Montgomery, and the officers serving and served, laboured under many disadvantages. The corps composing it were much scattered, and communication with outposts or headquarters difficult. A wild county, with villages and towns few and far between, making attendances at squad drills, and much more battalion assemblies, not only very laborious to the majority of corps, but a great source of expense to officers and men.