The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-04-11 00:00:00

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SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 1874.

THE VOLUNTEER REVIEW.

The fact that the Volunteers, notwithstand-
ing the many difficulties in the way of an
Easter-Monday Review, contrived to furnish
the public with the annual military spectacle
with which the day has become associated,
speaks volumes for the perseverance of a
force which is at once the wonder of foreign
nations, and the pride of our own land. It
is not yet half a generation ago since the
male population of this country responded
to the call of "Riflemen, form!' sent forth
hy the poet Lam-cat. At that time politics
on the continent were in a very disturbed
state. It was the month of May, 1859, when
the Emperor of Austria, having invaded Sar-
dinia, "to put a stop to the hostile acts which
for a series of years had been committed
against the indisputable rights of his crown,"
the Emperor of the French declared war
against Austria. boldly avowing his sympa-
thies with a people whose history was mingled
with that of France, and who groaned under
foreign oppression. That was on the 3rd of
May, and on the 111th the Etapeor left Paris
to join the army of Italy. For various rea-
sons there was then upon the public mind of
England an impression that the French Em-
peror, despite his friendly professions towards
us, really awriit,sl an opportunity to strike a
1,!-) w at our power ; and so strong was this
feeling, that two days after Napoleon had
placed himself at the head of his army to
tight th,• Austrians. a not i was issued from
our war office sanctioning the formation of
volunteer rifle corps, under the provisions of
an act passed in the reign of George 111.

The ;movement thus bi.".gan spread with the 1,
rapidity of an epidemic. By the end of the
year there was an effective force of 70,000
men, and on the 7th of March, 18611, her Ma- '
jesty held a levee at St. James's Palace, for
the purpose of receiving the officers of the
newly formed Vol nut .et• Rifle Corps. The
number who attended Wit :4 n bout 2,500, and
these were addressed by Earl de Grey and
Ripon, then Under-Secretary of State for
War. who told the assembled officers that it
weuld depend upon themselves whether the
movement was to te wort by of England, or
whether it was to be a mere laughing-stock.
He believed t hat before the end of summer
the force wonld reach 100,000 num. Si) little
however, (lid his lordship's expectations come
up to the reality, that by the date spoken of
there were 180,000 volunteers under arms, of
whom 40,000 had been formed into battalions
so admirably trained that the official inspec-
tors pronounced them fit to take their place
in Ike of battle. On the 23rd of June in
the same year to the Queen, with Prince
Consort reviewed 21,0 a./ volunteers in Hyde
V rk, 15,000 of whom belonged to the metro-
p. jib, aid 6,000 to the provinces Woolwich
nt no fewer than 1.800 men to this memor-
able gafiering; Blanchester, 2,000; and the
C.ts of London, 1,800. On the 2nd of July
,ollowiug was opened the first of those an-
nual competitions at Wimbledon which have
done so much to promote the efficiency of our
Volunteers as marksmen, her majesty com-
mencing the proceedings by firing the first
shot. On the 27th August in the same year
the Queen, whose interest in the volunteers
was from the outset of the warmest charac-
tor, reviewed 20,500 riflemen in the park ad-
joining Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh. The
movement also received the support of our
great and powerful nobles, and on the Ist
September the Lancashire Volunteers, to the
number of 11,000 were reviewed in Knowsley
Park, and afterwards entertained by Lord
Derby. This, it may be remarked, is only
one out of many instances of liberality on the
part of members of the aristocracy towards
the volunteers.

Easter Monday, 1861, witnessed the first
of those spectacular displays which now ap-
pear to be so inseparably connected with the
day. On that occassion there were two sham
fights at Brighton, under Lord Haneleigh,
and at Wimbledon under Lord Bury. In
the next year, however, the gathering at
Brighton was of a much more important and
interesting nature, metropolitan riflemen,
to the number of 20,000, were reviewed by
Lord Clide and other distinguished officers
appointed by the Horse Guards. The men
were conveyed from London to the Downs
in a few hours, fully equipped for action ;
and a mimic fight living been gone through
the entire force was brought safely to their
homes before nightfall. The proceedings of
the day were thought to give a satisfactory
solid ion to the question how far the Volun-
teers were efficient as a defensive force; and
Lord Clyde expressed an opinion of marked
approval regarding officers and men. The
Wimbledon meeting of 1863 was brought to
a close by a review, Commander-in-Chief
stating his firm conviction that the Volun-
teer force was then becoming a very able
body of men, and valuable as a great auxi-
liary to the regular army.

Such is a brief recapitulation of the circum-
stances surrounding the establishment of an
institution which in spite of disappointments,
ridicule, and discouragements, holds a high
and deservedly-honoured place in public es-
timation. Time was never so valuable to the
trading and professional classes as it is now;
yet we see it freely given year after year by
those who by their attendance to drill, must
he making envyli sacrifices. . The proximate
cause of voluntccr tit in—the appre-
hension of a French 111%U...ilia—Iris long since
passed away; and we have lived to see the
Sovereign whom we distrusted himself an
exile from his native land, his empire shat-
trial to pieces, his power dissolved even as
the mist fades in the valley when it if stricken
with the sunbeam. It is not so long ago that
he landed as a fugative upon our shores; it
is a shorter period still since he breathed his
last in our midst. His remains now rest in
English soil, but the movement to which the
national misgiving as to his designs gaverise,
continues to flourish in the face of disadvan-
tages which whonld have crushed one less
firmly founded on duty or on patriotism.
Its fate has not been that of the splendid
meteor which suddenly flashes across the
northern sky, dazzles and suprises the spec-
tators for a brief season, and then disappears
for ever, leaving the darkness of the night
more visible than before; it is no ign fatu rf..4
dancing over the marshes, and eluding the
grasp of the pursuer; but it stands out
boldly and resting upon a solid basis, con-
tinuing its work in sunshine anti in storm,
and by its steadfastness commanding the
respect of our own countrymen and the ad-
miration of neighbouring nations.

THE ELECTION OF GUARDIANS.

DECLARATION OF POLL.

HASBURY.
E. B. Phillips
A. Burr BB'

STOLTBRIDGE.
Benjamin Brooks B9l
H. Billingham
F. J. Haskew 745
T. Allehureh 441