["Notwithstanding the efforts made by the Inns of Court
Rifles, supported by the Authorities of the Inns, to increase
the strength of the corps, the additional enrolments lately
made have been judged by the War Office not sufficient
to warrant the continued maintenance of the corps as an
independent battalion; and orders have been given for its
reduction from six to four companies, for the withdrawal of
the Adjutant, and for the attachment of the corps to the 4th
Middlesex Rifles."--_Daily Paper._]
Oh, how bright were the days when we all of us saw
In their martial equipment the limbs of the Law.
With their helmets and rifles, and pouches complete,
(May I quote from the ladies), they "really looked sweet."
The Colonel, the Major, and all their attendants,
Appeared not as counsel, since all were defendants;
And no soldierly spirit could equal the Bar's,
When Themis, its goddess, was mated with Mars.
No more shall they charm us; harsh Fate with her shears
Has severed the thread of the Law's Volunteers.
And, whatever the cause was, 'twas certainly true
That these fee-less defenders at last were too few.
So now they're absorbed, and, no longer the same,
They lose by attachment their being and name.
And the old Devil's Own, from their discipline loosed,
Have gone to their owner; _i.e._, they're _re-duced_.
* * * * *