The Express.
London, England, 1860-09-03 00:00:00

LONDON. MONDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 3, 1860.

THE VOLUNTEER REVIEW AT
K_NOWSLEY PARK.

- -
Mon out seemst aapostaz.)
The chronicles of the house of Stanley, studded
as they are with incidents of the highest historical
value, will Contain few pages upon which the prin-
cipal acten may look beck with more excusable
pride, or with more justifiable exultation, than that
wrw which will be recorded the manta of the Ist
of September, 1860, when all •the volunteer army
of Lancashire mustered in Knowsley-park at the
bidding of the thirteenth Earl of Derby, and made
a peaceful demonstration of the physial strength,
the aptitude for military diampinr, and the
patriotic feeling of the English nation, which it is
to be hoped will produce a salutary impression
upon. ail those, In whatever quarter they may be
found, 'who may envy that nation's prosperity, or
hope to tarnish its thoucend years of hard. won high
reputation. • If we merely considered the number
of armed and diseiplined. leen who mustered on the
ground, or the countless thousands who thronged
to witness their evolutions, we might be satis-
fied to accept the volunteer review of Saturday as
a national event of which the whets nathermsght
well be proud ; what, them. Must wP tielffiti. 91
when we remember that it was the effort a6,41*
one English county, and that there are thirty-Line
other counties in " merrie England " all animated
by the Fame patriotic spirit-1 possessing sena as
strong, as hardy, and as brave—and all equally
ready to answer to the bugle call should hostile in-
vaders ever dare to approach their thereof
Up to the event of Saturday last the great volun-
teer movement of England may be said to have
been undergoing one perpetual baptism of rain
water. Through rain and storm, through damp and
mud and heavy discouragement, lad our civilian
soldiers, with the dogged pertinacity of their race,
persevered is their organisation, and it seemed as
if Providence intended that they should be aaa-
aunad fur the struggle with the expected foe by
never-ending strife with the hostile elements. Bee
even the skies, as if moved by so much heroic fors
titude, at last relented, and weather as fine as
could possibly have been desired smiled em
couragingly on the mimic warfare of Knowsley-park.
The visitor from afar made their way down to
Liverpool on the previous day, and on Friday
evening every hotel in the great commercial capital
was crowded by the curious and the 'sympathising,
who came from north and south and east and west
assist at the gathering of the Lancashire volun-
teers. Upon that evening the weather was the all
adsorbing topic of every one's conversation. People
stood in groups in the spacious streets, and
gazed with a sort of hesitating complacency on
the silver moon, that, almost for the first time
this bummer, sat placidly in a sky unspeckled by a
single clout They seemed as if they could never
tire of gazing at the unwonted visitor, or tobe under
some vague apprehension that, if they retired into
their hotels for a moment, the pleasing vision
would melt away, and the dark watery clouds
of the season would resume their, till then, estab-
lished position. But it was no delusion, no tempt-
ing, tantalising glimpse of fine weather; the pluvial
deities approved of the review, and most graciously
made themselves amiable as well as "conspicuous
by their absence." The changed appearance of the
sty on the following morning—having by that
tune put away its blue and silver, and donned a
decided volunteers' grey—made visitors a little
nervous, and cabmen more than normally extor-
tionate; but in the main the promise of the previous
night was faithfully kept, and only a few oc-
casional drops fell here and there, just to indicate
what a real, right-down wet summer could have dose
if it had lid.
The railway companies had promised, and no
doubt had rnadeosuch arrangements as they believed
to be equal to the occasion; but so enormous was the
pressure at the station that everyone who could
procure a vehicle retired from the field, and pro-
ceeded to Knowsley by the road. We adopted that
plan ourselves, sod, bystartingearly, contrived to ar-
rive at LiverpeolLedge, Kuoweley-park, long before
the great invasion. For eight miles our journey
lay along a gloomy road, which looked es if it was
composed of macadamised coal, but which war
nevertheless skirted all along with teeming fields of
wheat, which had apparently suffered little or nothing
from the summer's rain. Fine large red faced Lan-
cashire people peered out of the windows and doors
of exceedingly small, but equally red faced, Lanca-
shire houses, and here a tall chimney, and there a
vast factory, supplied the place of the " tall ances-
tral trees " which so delight the eye in the more
southern English landscape. Toll keepers—that
remarkable race of men, who can preserve their
ineutal equilibrium amid the most extraordinary
scenes of excitement—demanded theirsixpeaees with
as much san9lroid!as if the day were not the great
day of Lancashire ; and the famed witches of the
county tramped in merry groups along the foot-
way,
exhibiting • bloom which proved how exceed-
ingly well sorcery agrees with the female constitu-
tion. When we arrived at "Liverpool Lodge " we
found it surrounded by an indignation meeting of
baffled carriages and cabs, the drivers and emu-
pouts of which were holding a vain parley with the
stern janitrix whom Capt. Eiornby had, with admir-
able discrimination of character, selected for the
perilous duty of holding the gates against all comers
until the proper moment for adiniesion. Mrs. Leoni-
das, she fully deserves the title, listened to every sue-
cessiveahower of knocks with the most imperturbable
nusicAelence, the only demonstration being to show
her rosy old faces once in a quarter of an hour at a
loophole' and inform the assailants that her orders
were to let them " Ring until they were tired," the
information being given iu a tone which led to the
strong inference that she was amply supplied with
missile ammunition should active defensive opera-
tions become n . We appealed to the good
offices of the police, ut that otherwise brave and
efficient body of men appeared to be perfectly
prostrated by the tremendous force of character of
the stern seneschal in petticoats. They told us,
with fear in their faces, to " speak to the old
woman ourselves ;" and as we ventured in to do so,
they watched at a distance for the result, just as if
they had been introducing us to the Dragon of
Wantley, or leaving us fur the night to keep our
vigil in • terribly haunted house. We brought her
down from the loophole, which was generally ad-
mitted to be a grand success, and, better still, were
permitted to see the tip of her gracious nose through
a scarcely opened wicket, at the back of which the
whole pressure of a pair of Atlanta= shoulders
precluded the possibility of any further advance.
We didn't get in, but were indulgently told that
" Captain Ilonly's gate was half a mile
further on, and be might let us in if he
liked ;" with which curt information the great
doer was slammed with a bang that made
the old tower quiver again.
Acting, however, upon the hint which she had
been so kind as to give us, we parted with this
heroic old lady strongly impressed with the convic-
tion that the must be a surviving relic of the Com-
monwealth, and had assisted the great Counter of
Derby in her famous defence of Latham-house
against the assaults of the parliamentarians. We
contrived to gain admission at the place indicated, ,
' and soon found ourselves walking over the elastic
sward of the flue and spacious park. Knowsley-
park is of great extent, and skilfully laid out, hat
the trees are of moderate magnitude, and hardly
old enough for the manor of • family that was of
gentle blood before the Norman Conquest. The
hall forms two sides of a quadrangle, of an
arobi-
tecture hardly elder than Queen Anne's time, and
is but two stories in height, but is of lateral extent
amply sufficient to accommodate the troupe of
guests who at this period of the year are wont to
gather round the noble proprietor. Perhaps
the nest striking portion of the buildings
are the magnificent stables, which form
one of the sights of the county, and which

contain in perfection every appliance of the
modern sicote. At the time of our arrival they
were garrisoned by a strong body of police, who
were subsequently detailed to the various duties of
the park, but who at that particular moment were
doing justice to his lordship's hospitality with a
vigour which afforded gratifying evidence of the
eacellent sanitary condition of "the force." Here,
as inevery subsequent proceeding of the day, all of
whisk ;hell be noticed in their turn, Lord Derby
1144 meted the maxim of the great Duke, that the
core of the oonnniasariat was the first duty of a
geoid general, and load en care that everyone who came upon his • to the review should
be provided with imitable nehmen!.
As * connexion with ell remarkable on event as
Oat itt Saturday let every one will be anxious to
learn 01 about Knowsley Hall, the head-quarters
fer the day of the voltmteets or Lancashire, we
shall avail ourselves of the hasty glance which,
mid so much crowd and cohfusion, we were
enabled, through the kindness of Captain Hornbh
Lord Derby's Comptroller of the Household, to
obtain of the interior, and endeavour to recount
something of what we saw during a promenade of
seine ten minutes" duration. The great dining
room was arranged for a banquet, but its most at-
tractive features were not the plate nor the decora-
tions with which the table was loaded, but the
splendid collection of family portrait!, which hung
high up, in an admirably *mimed around
the walls. There was the portrait of the first earl,
stiff and hard, but of course as faithful as aghoto-
graph, as is the case with afl Holbein's pictures,
and bearing ample testimony to the prudence of the
brave baron who knew so well the proper moment
at which to forsake the cause of a tyrannical sove-
reign. The reader of Shakespere will recollect
the passage in " Richard the Thud " in which the
Derby incident is recorded.
Enter a Manager.
K. Kirk What says Lord Stanley? will he bring his
power?
Mess. My lord, be doth deity to come.
K. Riot. Of instantly with his son Geroge's head !
Nor. My lord, the enemy is pealed the marsh ;
After the battle let George Manley die.

But George Stanley didn't die ; be lived, and
with his prudent father helped to entertain King
Henry the Seventh after Bosworth field, in the
very Knowsley which, centuries later, was
to be the scene of a famous gathering. There was
also the likeness of the " Queenof Man," the heroic
Charlotte I)e Tremouille, the bravo defender of
Latham-house, and whose surviving heachwoman
we firmly believe to have held Liverpool
Lodge
with equal resolution on Saturday last againsrlC
reporters ; and there, in all the saddened dignity
of Vandyke, was the full-length portrait et
the brave earl who suffered for his loyalty to his
sovereign. There were they all, a goody row
of grave statesmen, stalwart barons, and fair and
noble ladies. Many of the last-named appear to
have been surpassingly beautiful; but there is a
strong family likeness running through all the
portraits, and which is fully sustained by the living
representatives of the family at the present day.
There is a comparatively modern picture which
probably excites greater interest amongst Lan-
cashire people than any of the stiffly ruffed Hol-
beins, the dignified Vandyke', or the voluptuous
Lelys. It is the portraits of two children, the groat
" oocking " Karl of Derby and his sister, the former
the original breeder of the celebrated " Black reds,"
the descendants of which are to this day as much
prized in Lancashire as are the true " steeds of
the het" in the Arabian desert. As this re-
markable gallery I. by prescription a gallery of the
dead, let us hope that many, many years may elapse
kbefeeh- Shp " easaterieit presentment " of the
thirteenth earl takes its place in the distinguished
line.

But we must hasten to the park, where the lista
are prepared, the tribunes are hung with scarlet,
the crowd has mustered, and all eyes are strained
and watching for the coming of the volunteers.
The ground has been admirably chosen, and coa-
-1 sista of a vast open expanse of splendid gram, the
side of which, that is next to the hall, gradually
rising so as to form a natural gallery capable of
aooommoding 100,000 spectators. Immediately at
the base of this gallery is a broad strip of table
land, upon which an incredible number of vehicles
of every class and description found accommoda-
tion, and beyond, and bounding the parade ground,
ran a long row of tribunes, the oeutral and hand-
looniest of which accommodated the Countess of Derby
and her immediate guests. As this was strictly a
county gathering the occupants of this select enclo-
sure were not very numerous. Besides the Countess
and her daughter, Lady Emma Stanley, there were
the Earl of Sefton, lord-lieutenant of the couuty,
Rev. Mr. HopivoLd and Lady Elinor Hopwood
and Misses Hopwood, Hon. Algernon Egerton,
Lord Stanley, and probably about twenty other
ladies and gentlemen whose names we were not able
to ascertain. At about 4 o'clock a vast assemblage
bad collected. The whole of the natural gallery
to which we have alluded was thronged with
people, and the lofty trees in the rear appeared as
if covered with a crop of little boys, so populous
were they, even to their topmost branches, with
" Young Lancashire," who, regardless of conse-
quences, had clambered up to have the beat sight
of the review. When we state that the immense
lawn, or rather prairie, was entirely surrounded by
spectators, packed in the same manner it will
probably not be an exaggeration if we say that there
ware 100,000 persons present. Every road leading
to the different gates of the park was covered
with vehicles for miles, and if we add to this
the incessant contingents poured in by the various
railways our estimate can hardly be considered to
be over the mark. The volunteers now, from
various quarters, began to arrive on the ground.
There were the usual dense masses of green and
grey, to which the English eye is becoming so well
mienstomed, mixed with the occasional red of an
engineer corps, and the popular blue and scarlet
busby of the artillery. Strains of exhilirating
sum floated in the air from the different bands,
and the style of performance fully vindicated the
Wide Lancashire for the divine art. The aides
now began to gallop backwards and forwards in
their usual frantic manner ; the word of command
could be Laird giveu in a hundred cadencies, and a
lumbering sound attracted all eyes to the right of
the line, where a battery of bright steel guns,
"Clay's breechloaders," was drawn up under a
picturesque clump of trees to fire the salute
when the party from the ball should arrive.
Gradually the almost interminable line, or rather
line of columns, of the volunteers closed up, and an
army of between ten and twelve thousand men stood
to their rifles and waited the signal to begin. A
salute from the steel guns, admirably delivered,
and whose loud report betokened their terrible
power, announced that the cortege was leaving the
hall. First came the horsemen, the Earl of Derby,
the Earl of Sefton, Colonel Talbot, General We-
therell, Colonel Bourne, Hon. Algernon Egerton,
and several others forming quite a brilliant staff,and
immediately afterwards Bowed the ladies in open
carriages. The Coundsperby's carriage was
drawn by four splenM' bays,. and was fol-
lowed by a low phaeton drawn by a beautiftd
team of white ponies, in which was Lady
Emma Stanley and her youthful friends.
A third carriage followed, the whole party being
loudly cheered—the Countess, however, receiving
by far the largest share of the popular ovation. The
party proceeded slowly along the line of the volun-
teers, receiving the salute from the various corps
as they passed. Subsequently they took their
places in the tribune, and the bands having all been
collected under a central clump of trees, the evolu-
tions of the review commenced.

The " marching past " was commenced by the
Lanesahire Humars, a magnificent b,Kly of cavalry,
splendidly mounted, and numbering nearly 200
troopers. The public were loud in their enco-
miums ma this splendid body of seen and horses,