The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-18 00:00:00

FIRST MIDDLESEX ARTILLERY.

. On Saturday the Duke of Buckingham, hon.
colonel, invited Col. Creed and the officers of the
Bucks Yeomanry Cavalry to a grand entertainment
at Stowe, special trains on the North-Western Rail-
way being provided for their accommodation. The
annual dinner and presentation of prizes to No. 8
(Capt. Monckton's) Battery took place on
Thursday evening at the headquarters of the re-
giment, formerly the Hunterian Museum, in
Leicester-square, and the proceedings were of con-
siderable interest. Capt. Monekton presided, and
was supported by General Alexander, C. 8., R.A. ;
Col. Creed, Commandant of the Ist Middlesex Ar-
tillery Volunteers Brigade ; the Rev. H. Jones
(chaplain), Col. Gregory, of the Railways Volun-
teer Engineer Corps ; Capts. Hunt, Mullens, Rut-
ley, Sharpe, and Stanley ; Captain and Adjutant
Adams, Drs. Harling, Ridsdale, and De Lisle Allen;
a number of officers of other volunteer regiments,
honorary members, &c. Lieut. Whichcord occupied
the vice-chair.

After the loyal toasts,
General ALEXANDER, in responding for the army,
alluded to the active service he had seen, and to the
extraordinary efficiency he had witnessed in gun
drill by No. 8 Battery that evening. From the way
in which the volunteers of that battery handled their
guns he considered they were treading very close
upon the heels of the Royal Artillery service.
(Hear, hear.) Such a state of efficiency could only
be attributable to their having good officers and good
instructors.

Colonel GREGORY, in responding to the toast of
" The Volunteers," alluded to the new arm of the
volunteer service to which he belonged, which re-
lated more particularly to rapid railway transit for
troops in the event of any emergency. • He might
say that they had now so complete an organisation
that in the event of any point of our coast being
threatened with invasion, troops, whether volunteers
or regulars, could be concentrated at that point
from almost any part of the kingdom in an incre-
dibly short space of time. (Hear, hear.)
Colonel CREED, in response to the toast of his
health, referred to the new era in artillery practice
which, under the auspices of the National Artillery
Association, had opened up to them this year at
Shoeburyness. After expressing his high and com-
plete satisfaction with the efficiency of the battalion
generally, Colonel Creed concluded by proposing
" The Health of Capt. Monckton," which was en-
thusiastically responded to.
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Captain Adams, and to the instructors, as well as to
the attention of the non-commissioned officers and
privates of the battery, which, out of a strength of
between 50 and 60 men, had returned 43 eflicients.
The healths of the adjutant, Capt. Adams, the
medical staff, the captains of other batteries, and
Lieut. Whichcord were given, and the prize tankards
for best attendance at drill were presented to the
winners by Colonel Creed.
The toasts of " The Press," " The Visitors and
Hon. Members," " The Ladies," &c., concluded a
most interesting evening.

FIRST MIDDLESEX ENGINEER VOLUNTEERS.
DISTRIBUTION OF PRIZES.
On Saturday evening the distribution of prizes to
the above corps took place in their new drill-hall,
College-street, Chelsea, under the presidency of