§ MR. BERNAL OSBORNEsaid, he wished to draw attention to a system which had just commenced of inspecting the Volunteers in Hyde Park between the hours of five and six in the evening, when there was a great concourse of equestrians and of carriages. Yesterday he say a regiment of Volunteers inspected. The firing began at half-past five and went on until half-past seven, to the inconvenience of many stout gentlemen on horseback and of ladies in carriages. He himself saw three people run away with. There was a general order at the House Guards, signed by the Duke of Wellington, that the Guards were never to fire except in the center of the park. He feared that to some extent the Volunteers were becoming more inimical to their own countrymen than they were 303 ever likely to be to the enemy. Yesterday they were first file firing and then firing in volleys quite close to the road opposite the barracks in Hyde Park. It was only necessary to draw the right hon. Gentleman's attention to what threatened to be a considerable nuisance, and if the right hon. Gentleman could prevent the Volunteers playing so frequently through the streets he would confer a boon on society.
MR. COWPERsaid, he had previously heard complaints, that persons could not manage their horses in consequence of the firing of the Volunteers. He thought it desirable that the Volunteers should exercise in a way which would not interfere with the enjoyment or security of persons who were either riding or driving. It had been pressed on the attention of the officers commanding the Volunteers that they should conduct their drill in a manner that would not expose them to complaints similar to those which had just been made by the hon. and gallant Member. Instructions would be given that while the Volunteers had the full enjoyment of the park for their drill it should not be conducted so as to alarm or disturb other persons.