Page:A History of Horncastle from the Earliest Period to the Present Time.djvu/164



The present building is not the first structure erected in connection with the Volunteers, any more than the present Volunteers themselves are the first institution of the kind formed in Horncastle. In the early years of the 19th century, when there was a general feeling abroad that one great project, nurtured in the ambitious mind of the first Napoleon, was an invasion of England, volunteers were organized throughout the country, with a view to self-defence. As an instance of this, in the town of Pontefract a corps was formed, of which the Earl of Mexborough was Colonel Commandant, and George Pyemont, Esq., of Tanshelf House, Pontefract (grandfather of the present writer), was Major; the records of which are preserved, among other public documents, in Pontefract Castle.



Similarly, a corps was raised in Horncastle at the same period, of which we have somewhat curious evidence in the following. There exists a small pamphlet, which the writer has recently (July, 1908) perused, entitled "An address delivered to the Horncastle Volunteers, on Feb. 26, 1804, by their chaplain, in consequence of the resignation of some of the members. Published by desire of the corps. Printed by James Weir, Horncastle, 1804." In this address he expresses his great regret that so many volunteers are resigning