§ VISCOUNT CHELSEAsaid, he wished to put the following question to the noble Lord at the head of the Government—namely, whether, a distinct pledge having been given on the 14th day of May, 1854, by the Duke of Newcastle, then Minister at War, and an understanding arrived at that militiamen enrolled under the provisions of the Act of 1852 should not be called upon against their consent to serve for more than fifty-six days in the year during the period for which they enlisted, the noble Lord is prepared to give an assurance that it is not the intention of the Government to take advantage of the power which, in the opinion of the law officers of the Crown, is conferred by the 15 & 16 Vict., c. 50, to subject men, whenever enrolled, to the full obligations imposed by those Acts, but that some method will be devised to enable such militiamen as express themselves unwilling to serve for a greater number of days in each year than they were originally made liable to by the terms of their enlistment to return to their homes?
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONUndoubtedly the law is as it was explained by the law officers of the Crown, and the Government have a full right to require from the militia complete obedience to that law; but it is quite true, as has been stated, that there was a sort of expectation held out by the noble Duke, the late Minister at the head of the War Department, that that obligation would not be strictly enforced. The noble Lord now at the head of the War Department is about to issue a circular to the whole of the militia regiments, the object of which will be to give to the men so enrolled previous to the passing of the Act of last year the option of being reattested, and of serving fur the full time for which they are liable, or of selecting to complete only their fifty-six days in the year.