Excerpt from The Rifle: And How to Use It, Comprising a Description of That Valuable Weapon in All Its Varieties In November, 1858, it would have been a difficult matter to have assembled, upon any emergency, 300 Volunteer Rifles fit to take the field. While I write, we have nearly already enrolled and equipped, and before the autumn of the present year, I have little doubt that there will be fully well-drilled and tolerably disciplined, equal in most essentials, to any soldiers that this country ever possessed. I have received many hundred letters* from some of those who are taking a lively interest in this matter, expressing the most gratifying eulogies upon my exertions in the cause, thanking me for having initiated, as they consider I have done, the Volunteer movement. Without entirely arrogating to myself that merit, I cannot but admit that much pleasure has been afforded me by the communications to which I have alluded; and I trust that nothing will now occur to check the progress of that organiza tion which will shortly place us, at once and for ever, in such a position as to be able to defy the hostility of the world. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.