The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-11-21 00:00:00

GRAND

VOLUNTEER DISPLAY
LAST NIGHT, AT ST. GEORGE'S-HALL.

SWEARING-IN OF THE ENGINEER.
VOLUNTEERS:

Last night the interesting. ceremonial of swearing-in
the Sngineer Ocirps; Which has recently been formed in.
Liverpool, teak plaCe at St. George's-hall, under cii:-
iimstatiees of unusual eClat. The nucleus of this large
find splendid body of men was pinned principally frorn
00 imticnien and inspectors employed ill ;OrrAO, out
tie various sanitary workswiAtil the borough, whilst a
ecacieni, Micas immediately presented
lerlselyeil from the offices of the various architects and
o'tineers practising in town. Nothing further was
Wanting to add completeness in all its departments to that
magnificent body of local volunteers of whom Liver-
pool may be so justly proud. Of this very important

and interesting adjunct to the volunteer force, eight
companies have already been enrolled ; and the corps,
judged either by the advance which it has made in drill,.
or the fine physique presented by the men, is one well'
justifying the pride which is felt in it by its promoters.
St.. George's-hall has rarely presented a more bril-
liant spectacle than it did last eVening, it had been pro-
fusely decorated with flags, strearneis, and other troPhies,
supplied gratnitoiisly fl•Om Cohipton House. EaCh pillar
Was hung with flags, baini. the platform (ate orchestra)
• •
especially, the most ex4tiisite ornamentation had been
lavished. It. ~?ra§ laid With fine green cloth. Two beau-
*. bilk Military flags waved. over the Mayor's chair,
tiallA on each side in front were two silk banners
inscribed with the initials of the corps. There was a
profusion of other trophies,. and in front there was a
Pictured motto, in white and red flowers, of " Defence,
but not Defiance." On each side was a star, or rayon,
formed of bayonets, bearing the royal arms in the centre.
At the other end of the hall, and where, in the recess, the
military bands in attendance were pladed, hung, supported
tlitrthies, a blue flag fringed With *lac; and bearing the
inscription, " England elpects eVel Mail to tin Ms
duty." Mr. test had kindly *ohintorqd his sertes
hon tiig ohto '" " ; 1
_ , Lue other mUilca:. accompaniments
(r the evening were furnished by the bands of the 22nd
(Ist battaliOn), the 15th Rifles, the Ist Brigade of
Artillery, and that of the Collegiate Cadets.

The ceremony was appointed for half-past seven
clock in the evening; and the interest which the pub-
lic felt in the proceedings was sufficiently evidenced by
the crowd which long before that hour congregated about
the building. The hall was thrown open at seven, when
carriages began rapidly to arrive, and the streets were astir
With detachments of the various volunteer corps, who were
to form the guard of honour, marching to the building.
These entered by the south-east door, whilst the
general public were admitted by the northern por-
tico, It had been arranged that all detaehments
tomposing the gnard 'of botielir, *ere to consist of not
More thali three officers, five sergeants, and fifty men.
it ivas composed as follows :—Rifles: The 42nd, the
Mayor's, the Childwall Corps, under the command of
Ensign Lucy; the 15th, under the command of Captain
badenach ; the 2nd Battalion (Lieut.-Col. Gladstone's),
under the command of Captain Maxwell, of the Oth;
and the Ist Battalion (Lieut.-Col. Bousfield's), tinder
the command of Captain Bright, of the 2/nd, Artillery :
The 9th and 12th (Second, Brigade), tinder the command
of Major Thompson ; the ht (Lieut.-Col, Brown's),
under Captain Hamilton ;• the 4th, under Captain
tfornby ; the fith, under Captain Inman, and the 11th
battalion, under Captain Maclver. The whole force,
We may state, was under the command of Lieut.-Colonel
bousfield, who had as his aides-dc-tamp Capt. Robert
son, of the Ist, and Capt. Crosbie, of the bth:
The artillery were formed, two dedp, along the east
aide and south, end of the hall, their right resting next
the platform ; the rates, thrown into a similar formation,
fated theni toil the west ; whilst, in front and on each.
aide tit the orchestra,—the position of most honour,—a
number of the Collegiate cadets were drawn up. An
open space was kept in the centre ; the general public
found accommodation behind, whilst the galleries were
crowded with ladies, who rained their influence upon
the scene. The varied colours of the uniforms of the
different corps mingled as in a parterre; and the tout
oesemb/e, we need not say, was one of no ordinary
grandeur. ,

S. R. GRAVES, Esq., the Mayor, presided ; and
amongst the other gentlemen present on the platform,
We observed—W. Preston, Esq. ; C. Turner, Esq. ;
Brown, Esq. ; C. Motley, Esq. ; J. Farnworth,
Pisq. ; J. Littledale, Esq. ; J. Shimmin, Esq. ; G.
Hickson, Esq. ; C. Beloe, Esq. ; E. Estill, Esq. ; T.
Vernon, Esq. ; Colonel Wilbraham, Colonel Tsuner,
Lieut.-Colonel Gladstone, Lieut. G. Preston, Colonel
tountsteven, Colonel Buchanan, Major Walter, Major
Tinley, Major Clay, :Colonel Mawdsley, Stephens,
Captains Grayson, Forbes, Falkner, Melly, Campbell,
)lentell, and Mayer ; Staff-Surgeon H. Neil, Dr. Des-
Mond, Capt. Preston, 2nd D.G. ; Capt. Goldfinch, R.N.;
Capt. Scott, Capt. Greatbam, R.N. ; the Rev. Rector ,
Campbell, the Rev. Dr. Hume, and the Rev. J. S.
Itowson.
When all had been arranged,
The MAYOR rose and said—Ladies and gentlemen
We have met this evening for the purpose of swearing-
in the First Lancashire Engineer Corps ; and I will now
call upon the commanding officer to come forward with
his officers and men, for the purpose of taking the
oath.

The Engineers had been formed in the western corri-
dor, and, on this intimation being given, the first or
staff company, preceded or accompanied by their officers,
tolvanced two deep • and with imposing front (about;
hventy abreast) to the foot of the orchestra. The bands
struck tip as an accompaniment to their march, and
they were hailed on their appearance with loud applause
rtom the gallery. The names 'of the ofAcers are as
follows :=Capt. Newlands, Capt. Picton, Capt. Ellison,
Lieut. Orridge, Lieut. Evans, Lieuo, Haigh, Lieut.
Grayson, Lieut. Whitty, Lieut. Beloe, and
ttr. 'Manifold. The oath of allegiance having been
Mminestired to these, the staff company and the other
companies were sworn-in in succession,—the Mayor
being assisted in the duty by fivo other magistrates pre-
kilt, viz.: Mr. Charles Tuner, Mr. William Brown,
Mr. Preston, Mr. Farnwortl, and Mr. C. Morley.
upwards of 300 were swom.in ; and the ceremony
necessarily occupied a consi&rable time. When it was
over, Mr. Best played an orerture upon the organ; and
The MAYOR rose, and said,—l am sure I shall be
consulting the feelings d those present, if I ask the
Hector of Liverpool, to associate his name with so inte-
resting a ceremeny, by addressing a few words to the
roen. (Applause.)

_ .
The Rev. Rector CIMPRELL said—Having been called
upon by the Mayor b address you, I felt it my duty to
obey the call. however unequal I may be to perform, the
task which he has imposed on me ; and if I am asked
Why I, exercising tle peaceful profession of a clergyman,
RM. here to sanctim by my humble advocacy a warlike
Movement, I say Oat I think I can do it with a perfectly
safe conscience, hicause I believe in my conscience that
the movement jr the best to secure the maintenance of
Peace. (Applause.) The surest way to prevent any
Unjust and unprovoked aggression--and any aggression
Upon us will be unjust and unprovoked—is to show, that
We are 13erfectly willing and able to defeat it. (Cheers.)
It is, therefore, with a view to promote the objects of
the PeacaSociety that I exhort you to exercise your-
selves in the preparations for defensive war. (Ap-
Plause.) No man of common sense, no Christian
Man, can do otherwise than abjure the wickedness
of aggressive war; and we particularly, the servants
Of a God who is the author of peace and lover of concord,
„eau only hope and pray for the time when the lion is to
lie down with the lamb, and swords shall be turned into
Ploughshares, and spears into pruning hooks. But then,
114 men of common sense and common experience, we
x,now perfectly well that under the present dispensation of
To
the reign of peace is a simple impossibility.
ko suppose that the Continental armies will turn their
swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning
'looks, would be to suppose that the Ethiopian can
Change the colour of his skin, or the leopard lose the
'Vets upon his hide. It is, as I said before, under God's
Present dispensation, a perfect impossibility. ',So long
He permits the freedom of the human will to 'work its
t)wn way, so long as He is pleased to permit the wrath of
Man to work against the righteousness, of God, war and
nghtings will arise. But still there are some who say,
Whom and what are you afraid of ?" to which my
answer would be, that I should be reluctant to confess
that we are actually afraid of anything—(applause)—
afraid, that is to say, with a cowardly and dastardly
fear. But then lam sure that no reflecting man can
View with otherwise than feelings of deep and solemn
apprehension the possibility even of a French invasion.
Looking to the vindictive wickedness which would pro-
/eke it, and the just, and holy, and virtuous indignation
'With which it would be met, it would entail one of the
lifted_ and most sanguinary conflicts that the world
Europe
beheld, and might turn back the civilisation of
.r-iurope for half a century. To use the simple and ex-
Piressaye language of Lord Overstone, "It must not be!"
(Applause.) This great and wealthy nation must spare
110 cost—this great and determined people must spare
40 pains to prevent its possibility. But then there arc
some who say, how can you possibly expect a French
; 41vasion, after the pacific assurances of the Emperor of
the French ? Well, I should be sorry to say one need-
lessly disrespectful word of that inscrutable potentate,
°llt who really is so inscrutable that I defy any human
never
to divine what he means ; fend I, for my part, can
gever think of him without thinking of that character
14 him in _Punch, representing him under the figure of a
Porcupine, with bayonets for its quills, and a motto
Pderneath, "He may be a peaceable animal, but he
't look like it." (Applause.) However, let us take
'Mat he represents himself to be. Let us speak of him
,1/4d think of him in the language of that motto which
"ras buckled round his knee when our gracious Majesty
°lade him a Knight of the Garter, "Hopi sat qui mal
Pense"—evil to him that evil thinks. Let us suppose
thatV he has, that be does combine with the wisdom of
:ite serpent the simplicity of the dove—are we quite
the
that he is, to use a cant phrase, master of
"ue situation ? are we quite sure that he is his own
laster in that respect? (Hear, hear, and: applause.)
perhaps all of you may not have heard what was said
'glen that part of the subject by the late Henry Drum-
mond, of facetious memory. He said, as a man who
4 eePS a pack of hounds must sometimes go out a-hunting,
0 a man who keeps an army of 600,000 must sometimes
b° out fighting. (Laughter and applause.) And that
might be the case with him. He may, like as the
Emperors of Rome were subject to the Pretorian Guards,
I'M the Sultans to their Mamclukes, he may be in that
rspect the servant of his own army, and may be forced.
Po war against his inclination. All these considera-
-lous force me to the conclusion that it is-necessary for