The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-25 00:00:00

The Late Lieutenant-Colonel Brewster,

On Wednesday last was buried, at the Bomptom Ceme-
tery, Lieut.-Colonel Brewster, We of the Inns of Court Rifle
Volunteers, who, to the deep sorrow of his family and
friends, and to the heavy loss of the Volunteer service, has
been cut off in the flower of life aftera few months' illness.
His body was escorted to its last resting place by the regi-
ment which he so efficiently commanded, and all the simple
and touching rites of a soldier's funeral were performed with
affectionate respect over one who was in heart a soldier. If
we m.ght venture to guess what would have been Colonel
Brewster's wish, we should say that, as Providence fortade
his finding a grave on the Crimeanbattlefields, he would have
chosen the place and manner of interment which his friends
adopted. Both in the church of Warwick-square, Pimlico,
and at the Brompfon Cemetery, the ceremonial was faultless
in arrangement and execution. The Burial Service of the
Church only neetia to be read audibly and reverently to speak
to every heart, and the " Dead March in Saul" is in another
way equally impressive. After the last prayer had been
read, a party of the Inns of Court Volunteers fired three
volleys over the grave, ancl,haring quitted the cemetery, the
corps marched homewards with its band playing a lively
tune which was a special favorite of the deceased colonel.
This is the usual practice of military funerals, and it is
dictated by that reason—

which still hath cried,
From the first corpse till he that died to-day,
This must be so.
But, although other duties claim attention and other
thoughts occupy the mind, itwill be long before the Inns
of Court Rifles replace, and sill longer before they forget,
their lamented colonel. He vas the model of an officer
adapted to command a regimEnt of intelligent and educated
voluntees, and the loss of Colonel Brewster will be felt
throughout the volunteer service, and not merely by his
own corps. He showed wild could be done in a short
time towards making volinteers efficient, and the
value of his assistance vas understood by Colonel
M'Murdo, the Inspector-General of Volunteers,
who was among the fiends who followed him
to the grave. Colonel Brevster gave the impression of
a man equal to any emergency of actual service, and for the
training and leadership of the Inns of Court corps he pos-
sessed special advantages of birth and education, as well as
theepre-eminent qualification of thoroughly understanding
the work he had to do. Being the son of Mr Brewster,
Q.C., formerly Attorney-General for Ireland, he had an
hereditary claim to the esteem of a corps of lawyers. Further,
he had graduated at Oxford before entering the army, and
thus he was well acquainted with the feelings of members
of the universities, of whom he had many under his com-
mand. Twenty years ago the number of men who went
to Oxford or Cambridge as a preparation for the army
was even smaller than it is now. The advantage of
such a preparation is indisputable, but unfortunately
commissions are usually obtained before the age at which
degrees are taken. It happened, however, that Colonel
Brewster's youth fell on a time when applicants were kept
waiting almost beyond endurance for commissions, and
he turned this period, which is too often one of mental va-
cancy or weariness, to excellent account by reading for a
degree at Oxford. And, besides reading for a degree, he
acquired in various ways a reputation at Oxford which en-
sured his popularity with the Inns of Court of Volunteers,
and inspired in that corps a well-founded belief of his great
capacity as an officer. He was noted as an undergraduate at
St. John's College for being good across country with
hounds, and good upon a coach-box with four-in-hand, but
it was as an oarsman that he gained his most enduring
fame. In 1842 there was a boat race between Oxford and
Cambridge over the old course from 'Westminster to
Putney, which Oxford won, and No, 4 in the winning boat
was Brewster of St. John's. Next year, at Henley, there
were entered, for the Grand Challenge Cup, the Oxford
University boat and the Cambridge Subscription Rooms'
boat. On the day of the race, the stroke of the Oxford
boat was taken ill, and as the Cambridge men ob-
jected, as in strictness they were entitled to do, to
a substitute, the Oxonians started with seven oars, and won
the race. Brewster at his old place, No. 4, bore his full share
in achieving one of the most remarkable of aquatic victories.
In 1816 he took his degree, and soon of terwards entered the
Ist battalion of the Rifle Brigade. He was made adjutant of
the battalion in 1848, and in the same year went out to the
Cape of Good Hope. ile served in the Kaffir war of 1852-3,
and received a medal. The exposure to climate and hard-
ships which he underwent in these campaigns brought on
severe attacks of rheumatic fever, and doubtless laid the
foundation of the disease of which ho died. When the
battalion of the Rifle Brigade to which he belonged
was ordered to the Crimea, he marched with it as far
as Portsmouth, hoping against hope that he might be
permitted to display his military ability and experience
upon a European field of warfare. He had the reputation
of being one of the best adjutants of a regiment ever
known. and his friends would have confidently expected
to see him attain high distinction if Providence had allowed
him to enjoy health and opportunity. But the decision of
a medical board forbade his embarkation for the Crimea,
and, although he continued to hope for improvement, he
hoped in vain. The adjutancy of the battalion was kept
open for him as long as there appeared any possibility of
his satisfying medical requisitions, but ho was reluctantly
compelled to abandon his life's most cherished hopes. A
fm years a:remards ne determined to retire from a position
which must be beyond expression irksome to one who feels
intellectual capacity for service which his bodily health re-
strains from u:Aertaking. He is remembered in the Rifle
Brigade as one of the most popular officers of his time.
There was nothing that his men would not do for him or
with him, and in bush-fighting against the Kaffirs he was
very active in finding work for them. To all qualities which
are deemed peculiarly soldier-like he added piety of heart
and purity and sebiety of life. He left the army in 1858,
having attained the rank of captain, cad he married a few
weeks afterwards.
The beginning of the volunteer movement found Mr.
Brewster unemployed, having had ample experience of a
kind of war well calculated to teach one who had the gift of
learning how to discriminate between those parts of the
English military system which are essential, and those
which owe their existence to custom or caprice. Here was
exactly the man to instruct volunteers in what they ought
to do and how to do it, and besides he possessed special
qualifications for managing the corps of which, by a fortune
happy alike for commanded and commander, he became
lieutenant-colonel, having no colonel over him. Under his
direction, the Inns of Court Rifles took part in all the prin-
cipal reviews and field days of the volunteer force which
have been held since its formation. Having good material
to work upon, he soon produced a valuable result. His aim
was rapidity of movement rather than that precision which
is only likely to he attained by devoting to drill a much
larger portion of time than volunteers generally can spare
for it. Knowing from experience what war is, and having
a mind capable of appreciating modern changes in its con-
ditions, he gave always a practical, business-like character
nonsense about Colonel Brewster, and having learned to
of his corps. Emphatically, there was no
toob3tyhewtrhaiilneinlgearning
to command, he possessed what
must have been in the eyes of the military authorities no
inconsiderable merit, namely, he did what he was told to
do and gave no trouble. If he had his men out for a field
day, he did not after one movement allow them to waste
time in dressing their line, but immediately called upon
them for another. On more than one occasion, competent
observers have expressed astonishment at the number of
evolutions which he put his corps through in a given tints,
and it was truly said that he could turn that corps inside
out, and do what elsc he liked with it. Whether it was a
_
single battalion or a brigade that he commanded Col. Brew-
ster handled his fern with a firm and unerring grasp.
His management of any
command which left him a pretty
wide discretion was always such as to show that he tho-
roughly understood his business ; and in particular his con-
duct of the force which represented the enemy at the
Brighton reviews was admirable. He fully gained the
wnfidellee of thou who had time to become acquainted
with him, and even a body of men who wore suddenly
placed under his orders would have discov,red from his
first look and word that Colonel Brewster knew what he
was about. And this, after all, is the most valuable
quality whie a leader can possess. For we must always
suppose it Possible that the Volunteers m:y one day be
called upon to perform the duties for which they have
undertaken to hold themselves prepared. That is a con-
tingency which may be regarded with various feelings,
according to the position in life, habits, and tastes of those
who turn their minds towards it. Theoreticallb, we all
desire that-.

Every man shall eat in safety
Under his own vine what he plants, and sing
The merry songs of peace to all his neighbours.
But still it may be suspected that among men of pacific life
and conversation Zateat seintillula forean; and even in the
depths of minds well-stored with legal rules and prece-
dents, and' penetrated with a sense of social and family
obligations, there may yet lurk unconfessed a hankering
men may have thought
after an untried sensation, and a feeling that a taste—just
one little. taste—of the certaminis gaudium would be very
pleasant. Iu the Inns of Court corps in past years some
of such a day, with joy, and all
certainly without faar ;
and always the belief must have
been universal, that if they had Colonel Brewster to com-
mand, and they were ready to obey, their blcod would not
be spent in va:n.

Thus far we have spoken of what we conceive to be a
public less. But there were between seven and eight hun-
dred members of the Inns of Court Rifle Corps to whom
the same event was the death of a dear friend. They will
have thought many times during the past week of all that
their late Colonel did for them, and of how he did it.
Considerate of everybody but himself, always at his post,
instructing, advising, and encouraging, knowing exactly
under all circumstances what to do, prompt to repair the
errors of subordinates and almost incapable himself of
error, with a noble look and bearing, a light heart and a
cheerful voice, he banished the sense of fatigue from others
and seemed unable to feel fatigue himself. Such was, the
commander whom the Inns of Court of Rifles, attended
to his last resting-place in the Brompton Cemetery. The
eight of the oak coffin recalled the memory of that stature
which rose above every crowd, and of that length of limb
which gave to one of the oars of the Oxford University
boat a far-reaching and victorious sweep. The sward
which rested upon the coffin, with the simple unplumed
cap which was part of its late wearer's own conception of
a dress suitable for a rifleman who meant business, recalled