The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-23 00:00:00

Voluntee:

iowe Park,

Yesterday a Volunteer Review, exceedingly pic-
turesque in character, and successful in all its de-
tails, was held at Stowe-park, the seat of his Grace
the Duke of Buckingham. The total number of
troops present did not in the aggregate exceed 4,500,
but the display was remarkable beyond its many
predecessors by the large force of cavalry taking
part in the evolutions, and by the fact that a sug-
gestion more than once put forward in The Sun,
that Yeomanry might mingle advantageously with
Volunteers at such reviews, was carried into opera-
tion with the happiest results. The park, compris-
ing within its available area about 1,300 acres,
made one of the noblest review grounds yet placed
at the disposal of the Volunteers. Its formation
permitted the troops, over a circuit of some two or
three miles, to be kept continually in sight of the
spectators, and the surface of the ground was so
beautifully even that, although cavalry and artil-
lery charges were frequent and rapid, not a single
accident was reported as having occurred. Con-
trary to the usual practice, according to which the
commencement of Volunteer reviews is often post-
poned till the shades of evening are settling down
upon the scene, the assembling of the troops was
fixed for a very early hour; the original proposal
being, in fact, that the first gun should fire, not in
the afternoon, but before 12 o'clock. The directors
of the Oxford, Buckingham, and Bletchley Rail-
way, having regard to this fact, and also to the cir-
cumstance that theirs is but a single line, made up
their minds to suspend all the ordinary traffic and
to run none but special trains—an arrangement no
doubt convenient to neighbouring Volunteers and
residents, but attended with obvious drawbacks to
sight-seers from a distance who placed their depen-
dence upon " Bradshaw." According to this
guide a choice of two trains, one at the early hour
of 6.30 a.m. and one at 11 o'clock, was open
to the public desirous of proceeding to Bucking-
ham, but, for those who acted upon the faith of this
information, the company might as well have fol-
lowed the American example and torn up the rail-
way. A trainfull of disappointed passengers was
duly deposited upon the platform of Winslow junc-
tion at 12 35, in abundant time to proceed to the
review, but there were no carriages to talo them on.
The special trains had gone off hours before to give
the local public a good long day at Stowe, and, in-
stead of returning for additional passengers, they
acted in the spirit of Mr. Gladstone's suggestion
about our transports in the Crimea, and " waited
till the fight was over to bring them back again."
As regarded the passengers who had put their trust
in " Bradshaw," there were two courses open to
them—one to give up the review altogether, and
the other to walk to Stowe, a distance of 11 miles,
not a horse or vehicle of any kind being procurable
in the district on any terms, What made the matter
additionally provoking was that a special train con-
veying the railway staff to Buckingham was
actually in the station while the train from Bletch-
ley was waiting for admittance outside, and could,
if detained a few seclnds, have carried on the whole
party with the greatest ease.

The magnificent avenue along which the approach
lies to the scene of the review from the town of
Buckingham in its general character very much re-
sembles the Long-walk at Windsor. The rolling
nature of the country interrupts the line of sight
and dispels in this case the disheartening impression
produced upon the pedestrian at Windsor, where
every step seems to repel instead of bring nearer
the equestrian statue in the distance. But in actual
measurement there cannot be any great difference
between the two approaehes. The parallel lines of
tree end with an arch, constituting the great gate
of Stowe, and passing through this the specta-
tor finds himself gazing on an exquisite pano-
rama of grassy kno.ls and valleys, wooded uplands,
dotted here and there with miniature lakes. The
ground was kept in the most admirable manner by
detachments of the Buckinghamshire, Oxford, and
Northamptonshire police, whose task was facilitated
by a very simple arrangement, which may be com-
mended to the notice of the Department of Works.
It consisted in a few stakes planted in the grOund
at long intervals and connected by a strip of wire,
drawn " taut," as sailors would say, by an ordinary
farm engine. An effectual restraint is thus imposed
upon the spectators, at the same time that all fid-
getting as to an imaginary boundary line is obviated.
Those gradual encroachments and sudden repulses,
regarded hitherto as inevitable incidents of " keep-
ing the ground," were entirely avoided. The grand
stand, moreover, within which the elite of the county
found accommodation, was a structure very much
in advance of the ordinary type at Volunteer re-
views. The force upon the ground was divided into
two bodies of nearly equal strength, the attacking
force, stationed, in the first instance, at Home Farm-
hill, being under the command of Colonel Erskine,
C. 8.; while the defending force, posted at Obelisk-
hill, was under the personal direction of Colonel
C. 8., who commanded in chief. Lieute-
nant-Colonel North, M.P., filled the post of Briga-
dier-General to the former gallant officer, and Lord
Ranelagh acted in the same capacity towards Co'.
M'Murdo. The divisions respectively were composed
as follows