The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1861-01-14 00:00:00

PREStNtA.TI6N Td tiEOT.-COL. XING.

. On Saturday a presentation took place in connection
with the Volunteer Movement upon the Cheshire side of
the Mersey, which will, no doubt, be as interesting to
our readers, as it must have been gratifying to the
gentleman who was the object and recipient of the gift.
The name of Lieut.-Col. King has been long and closely
connected with the Volunteer Movement ; his important
cervices hate been recognised, by the highest authority,.
next to the queen, in Cheshire—hy the Lord-Lieutenant
of the 60tiliity;itii6 has signified his approbation of Col.-
King's donditot in connection with the "Volunteer Mote-
Went by Waking bird one of his deputy-lientenarits: ite
has been recently promoted from the.command of the
second to that of the first dheshite Mies. The officers
and members of his 'own corps, heating that he Was
about to. leave them, deemed this a fitting opportunitY
for presenting him with a substantial mark of their
respect and esteem. .. A committee was soon or-
ganised, to whom, the management of the affair
Was entrusted, and it was resolred that it should
be confined to' the members of the Second Cheshire
Rifles, The presentation • took place on Saturday,
afternoon, at Oxton; in a patent tent, the inside of
Athlrl was festdoned with wreaths of evergreens. The
tent itself was of such an e*triorditia:fY siidPe chid COmz
position as to defy descriptioii. The greater portion
that is to. say the roof and two sides—were of common
galvanised iron, one of the remaining sides was of wood,
While an .old brick wall did service for the other. The
" novelty" was upon the whole a "telling" one; it
was evident; at least, that the Sir Christopher of the
village. had studied variety, possibly for effect, probably
for want of material. At all events there was no foun-
dation for the charge of, sameness, which is frequently
advanced by connoiseurs against works of art; the
tlcsit.e to avoid this, ,upon the wliole, was painfully con-
spicuous. The " edifice " was altogether as grotesque
an exhibition of the handiwork of man as a tour
through New Zealand or a journey to the North Pole.
Mould be likely to supply.
The tent Was Well filled with 'ladies and gentletten,
the centre being appropriated to the metnhers and band.
of Abeend' Che Shire Rillei. then the platfofin were
Mflikvenscroft (in the chair); Mr. lOhn Laird, Rey.
Mr. Tattersall, Colonel King, Captain Chambres (Wal
lasey Rifles), Captain Horner, and other officers and
gentlenien.

The. CHAIRMAN said they were assembled there to
witness the presentation to. Colonel Ring, of a plate
which had been subSCribed • for that purpose by the
members of. the 2nd •Company of the Cheshire Rifle
Volunteers, on the occasion of his promotion to the
Lieut.-Colonel Commandership of the Ist Battalion. It
was intended as a mark of respect and an acknowledg-
ment•of the great services which he had rendered the
volunteer movement generally, and in that quarter
especially. As soon as it was known that Colonel King
was to be promoted, there was one unanimous feeling
among the members of his company,.which was that some
steps ought to be taken to get up a subscription. The
consequence was that a meeting was called, and they
nosy saw the result. The subscriptions had been confined
to the niembers of the 2nd Rifles, because it was thought
that the gift would have greater value in the eyes of
their coinmauder from having emanated solely from those
'volunteers whoth he had laboured to instrtict, and with

Whom he bad been so long connected.. Tie thought they
would agree with him in thinking that those men who
had devoted their time to,. aiding and fostering the
volunteer movement deserved well of their country. It
had no doubt been 'a
great national, benefit, for unless
they looked back and considered the state which the country
was in two years ago' they could not properly appreciate
the changes that had taken place. Eighteen months ago,

when the movement -was first started, the country was
panic stricken. If the official journal of France spoke
mysteriously of an,approaphing war, or if anyone .made
a speech of a hostile character, we were seized with
apprehensic;n of invasion. To add to our discomfiture,
we were told that our arsenals were almost entirely use-
less, that oar navy was far inferior to that of France,
that if a force of foreign soldiers were once landed it
would be useless to contend against them, as we had no

efficient standing army. Let-them reverse the picture.
Great Britain had now regained her respect ; and if any
foreign force would only now dare tot hint at invasion
we, could point him tto our 15.0,000 volunteers. Colonel
King, since the commencement of the movement, had
devoted' himself, bbdy and soul, to its progress. He
believed that it was to Col. King that that meeting was
due;nver: which Mr. tnir:di presided ; to him was also
d,ue the organisation of the different corps which had
been formed 'in that neighbourhood. Since that time
he had devoted himself almost entirely to the progress
of the movement generally, and to his own improvement.
With this view he proceeded to Hythe, where he won
the good opinion of all who came into connexion with
him. The Osten and Claughton district had reason to
be proud of its company and of the gentlemen command,
ing it. 'At the competitive shooting Col. King did his
best ; and he had met with a reward for his exertions,
by being made by the lord-lieutenant of the county a
depUty-lieutenant. When the proposal for this testi-
monial was first considered, there was a little difference
of opinion as to, what shape it should take. Some sug-
gested a sword, and others a pair of pistols. At length
however, it was decided"to choose the handsome silver
ornament they saw before them. He concluded by call-
ing npon
,Captain. HOrner.
1..
CaPtain Hon= then came forward to present the
testimonial. He was glad that Mr. Ravenscroft had,
by making such an eloquent speech, taken a great.,' deal
out of his hands. There was nothing for him but to
simply present the candelabrum on behalf of the 2nd
Cheshire Volunteers, as a mark of that esteem in which
Colenel King had always been held by them. Might
he long live to enjoy it.'
The . cadelabrum was then, amid much applause
formally presented to 'Colonel King. It consists of a
centre piece in solid silver, representing a vine tree,
around the base of which are grouped three figures
of volunteer rifiemenin the picturesque costume of the
2nd Cheshire Rifles. The figures are portrait models of
members of that corps, and the natural lineaments, as
well as the dress and accoutrements, are carried out
with scrupulous correctness and fidelity. The figures
being all executed in frosted silver give an appearance
of delicacy and finish to the whele piece, which has a
most graceful effect. On One side of the base are
Lieutenant-Colonel King's arms, on another the date,
and on the remaining side the following inscription
"Presented.: to Captain Vincent Ashfield King, by the
2nd Company of the Cheshire Rifle Volunteers, on the
occasion of his promotion to the Lieutenant Colonelcy of
the Ist Battalion, as a token of their esteem and regard,
and the grateful remembrance of his services to, the
volunteer cause."

The following address, which was read by the Rev.
MK. Tattersall, accompanied the present :--

To Lieutenant-Colonel Vincent Ashfield King, Deputy-Lieu-
tenant of the county of Chester. We, the offl,..ers, effectives,
and honorary members of the 2nd Cheshire Rifle Volunteers,
request your acceptance of this candelabrum. as .a tributisof
the respect, and esteem we bear you, and as a record of the good
feeling which has ever existed between us during your com-
mand of the corps. Believing that it is mainly due to your
untiring exertions and self-devotion that our company owes
its present prbsperity, we must ever retain a"pleasing recol-
lection of your connection with us, and feel sorrow, selfish
though it may be, that duties,of a higher nature have called
upon you to resign your command. We gl.idly avail ourselves
of the present opportunity of congratulating you on the distin-
guished honour couferred upon you by our Lord-Lieutenant,
and of expressing our conviction that the responsible position
of Lieut, nant-Colonel of the Ist Battalion of,Cheshire. Rifle
Volunteers could not have been conferred upon one more
likely .to impart strength to the Volunteer Movement, Before
parting allow us to express our heartfelt wishes that every
happiness and prosperity may attend you in private and.public
life,.and that you may long be spared to enjoy the honours eo
• justly conferred upon you.

Lient.-Colonel Kiss, . who, on rising, was received
with most enthusiastic applause, and who evidently
laboured under deep emotion, said : My friends, believe
me there are moments of one's life which ought to be
the most pleasurable, but in which one's feelings are,
perhaps, more akin to pain than pleasure, and such are
my feelings at this moreent. I feel that I must try to
keep them Wider strict control, for if I do not I shall
not be able to thank you as I ought. Most assuredly, I
have sufficient at this moment to". excite me, when I
look upon this magnificent token of your regard for me,
and when I think upon that address which has just been
read, full of the kindest feelings towards Me. When I
reflect that all now here have come to do me honour, to
show their respect and regard for me—when I see so
many fair ones, I may well feel at this moment the force
of those sweet words of the poet—
How sweet are looks which ladies bend
On whom their favours fall.

—(Cheers). I may indeed well:feel unmanned ; I may
well feel agitated. The question Which naturally arises
in my breast is, "What have I done to deserve this ?"
and this is a question which I cannot answer satisfac-
torily to myself. I feel that others have done as much,
aye, perhaps more, than I have, and have not been
rewarded like me. My kind friends—Ravensworth,
Horner, and Tattersall—who have, addressed you, have

dwelt on my services ; but what are those services ?
If I have been attentive to my duty; if I have done
my best to master the mysteries of drill—in doing this
I have only done my duty. Again, if I have been kind
and courteous in commanding you, this,. again, was
only what was my duty as a Christian gentleman
to do. (Applause.) No, my friends ; I feel I 'do not
deserve this mark of your kindness. I feel it is not
my merit which has deserved it, bUt your kindness which
has given it. (No, no !) But. this is not the only
reward I have received.for doing my duty; I have been
selected as the man to, command the Rifle Volunteers in
this district, and this, is surely an honour of which any
man might be proud, but myself more especially, seeing
' that this district is my own native place—the place where
my fathers have lived—the place where I hope to live and
to die. This command is, indeed, a great honour,' for it
means that I am to command the very cream of the man-
hood, the energy, and the loyalty of the Hundred of
Wirral. (Cheers.) But then, es if this honour was not
enough, and indeed far too much, the Lord Lieutenant (a
nobleman of such sweet, such simple manners, that every
man:-who hes the pleasure to know him must love him)
has not; been content with showing me, every personal
kindness, but has been kind enough to make me one
of his deputy-lieutenants--(applause)—and has heaped
further 'honours upon pie. Belieye me I feel that these