STATE PAPERS. 



355 



partment to the Comoiandiiig 

 Officers of those Regiments of 

 British Militia which remain 

 embodied, together with the 

 Opinion of the Attorney and 

 Solicitor General tiierein refer- 

 red to : — 



" Whitehall, Nov. 18, 1814. 



" Sir, — Some doubts having 

 been expressed, as to the legality 

 of keeping the militia, or any part 

 of it, embodied, under the present 

 circumstances in which the coun- 

 try is placed, the question has 

 been referred for the consideration 

 of his Majesty's Attorney and Soli- 

 citor General, a copy of whose 

 opinion thereou I have the honour 

 to enclose. 



" You will not fail to take the 

 earliest opportunity of communi- 

 cating the same to the regiment 

 under your command ; and you 

 will at the same time explain to 

 the men, that as the oath taken by 

 the substitutes and volunteers is to 

 serve for five years, or for such 

 further time as the militia may re- 

 main embodied, and not (as has 

 been erroneously supposed) during 

 the war, no substitute or volun- 

 teer is entitled to his discharge 

 until the militia shall have been 

 actually disembodied. And you 

 will add, that although it is the 

 unquestionable right of his Majes- 

 ty to keep the militia embodied 

 notwithstanding the terminatiou of 

 the war with France, it is never- 

 ) theless the Prince Regent's wish 

 and intention to order the disem- 

 bodying of the remaining regi- 

 ments to take place with as little 

 delay as may be consistent with a 

 due regard to tlie public safety : 

 and he trusts, that until that period 

 shall arrive, the conduct of the 

 men will be marked by .that.steady 



attention to their duty and to the 

 commands of their officers, by 

 which it his been uniformly dis- 

 tinguished since they have been 

 embodied. 



" I am. Sir, 



" SiDMOUTH." 

 " To the Officers commanding 

 those Regiments of British 

 Militia which remain embo- 

 died." 



Lincoln's Inn, Nov. 17, 1814. 

 My Lord, — AVe have had the 

 honour to receive your lordship's 

 letter of yesterday's date, stating 

 that sooie doubts having been ex- 

 pressed whether the militia of 

 Great Britain can legally be kept 

 embodied under the present cir- 

 cumstance in which the country 

 is placed, your lordship is pleased 

 to desire, that we will take into 

 our immediate consideration the 

 several Acts relating to the militia, 

 particularly the 42nd Geo. 3, cap. 

 90 and 91 ; and report to ycu, for 

 the information of his Royal High- 

 ness the Prince Regent, our opi- 

 nion whether under any, and what 

 circumstances, it is imperative up- 

 on the King to order the immedi- 

 ate disembodying of the militia. 



We have accordingly considered 

 the same, and beg leave to report 

 to your lordship, that we are of 

 opinion, that when once the mi- 

 litia have been embodied upon 

 the occasions stated in, and ac- 

 cording to the provisions of the 

 Acts, there is nothing imperative 

 in the act, as to the time at or 

 occasion upon which the militia is 

 to be disembodied ; there is a dis- 

 cretion upon the subject of disem- 

 bodying the militia: vested in his 

 Majesty, subject always t6 the 

 responbibrlity which aftathts upon 

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